


Splanky

by ladymac111



Series: Splanky [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Jazz - Freeform, Milwaukee, Mutual Pining, Other, Slow Burn, Swing Dancing, lindy hop, tagged f/m and other because pidge's gender isn't made explicit, telling you now that klance is only in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-09-22 19:53:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 53,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9623030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladymac111/pseuds/ladymac111
Summary: Pidge Holt is a senior at UWM, a regular at Cream City Swing, and definitely not in love with her roommate's boyfriend, no matter what their dancer friends whisper about.But things get complicated when it turns out Shay isn't going to Midwest Lindyfest this year, and Hunk needs a different follow to help him teach his drag blues class.





	1. It Don't Mean A Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Before you even start, if you don't know what drag blues is, [please become familiar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_B_R05o21I&feature=youtu.be), you won't regret it. Go ahead and fall down that rabbit hole.
> 
> And if you're not already a Lindy Hopper, you may want to [see some of the best of that too](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9xxeWRxSbA). This is the style of most of the dancing in the story.
> 
> Each chapter is named for a song, which will have a Spotify link in the chapter note, and is on the playlist linked in the end note (which may be sort of spoilery but let's be real this is a predictable tropefest and you know what'll happen at the end). Other songs mentioned in each chapter will also be linked in the end note.
> 
> The title of the story is [Splanky by Count Basie](https://play.spotify.com/track/08A2Kb6BMw2lB1VwdcXaXx)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) by Duke Ellington](https://play.spotify.com/track/3FexBqEnmKPUttfXtwRDR6)

_It makes no diff'rence if it's sweet or hot_  
_Just give that rhythm ev'rything you got_  
_Oh, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing_  
_(Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah  
_ _doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)_

 

Pidge's phone whistled in her pocket, a familiar riff that never failed to make her smile every time one of her dancing friends texted her. "Who's that?" Matt said.

"Don't be nosy." She elbowed him in the side and pulled the device out of the pocket of her jeans, and her brother leaned over her shoulder. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Um, obviously not? I'm on vacation and I'm afraid of Mom when she has that many potatoes."

"You're a slacker." She unlocked the phone. "It's Hunk."

"Oh cool, I haven't seen him in forever.  How is he?"

She shrugged. "I mean, presumably fine."

"Well, what's he say?"

" _Hey Pidge._ " She read it as flatly as she could.

"Ugh." Matt flopped over dramatically and put his feet in her lap. "There's nothing interesting in your life since you broke up with Kate."

"Good riddance to her."

"Yeah, true."

_Hey man what's up_

_Question for you. So you know I'm teaching the beginner drag blues class at Lindyfest this year like I always do, but I need a partner._

Pidge's heart thumped weirdly in her chest. _Shay isn't doing it??_

_No it turns out her sister's wedding is that weekend so she can't come at all._

_That sucks_

_Tell me about it. But anyway you're the best follow I know, would you do the class with me?_

_Sure? I mean I haven't done much blues._

_That's fine, I can teach you what you don't know. We've got plenty of time and you're a quick study._

"You're weirdly quiet," Matt said.

"Shut up." She stared at the phone for a little too long before she could will her thumbs to move. _That sounds good. I'd love to teach the class with you._ Shit, shouldn't have said _love._

_Awesomesauce! You're the best._

She grinned. _Shut up baby I know it._

_Lol anyway I'll stop interrupting what I'm sure is a lovely family Hanukkah. See you next weekend?_

_You bet. Merry Christmas or whatever._

_Thanks man, ttyl._

She thought about replying for a long minute before she locked the phone and put it back in her pocket, returning her attention to the muted TV and whatever was holding her brother's attention.

"That was about Lindyfest."

Matt looked up from turning the dog's ears inside out. "You're going this year?"

"Duh."

"Can I come?"

"Sure, if you really want to. I'll be helping teach a class though, and probably entering the Jack and Jill, so I'll be sort of busy."

"That's cool, I'll have the whole drive with you and I like your friends."

"You like Shiro."

"Of course I do, he's hot."

"You gonna actually dance with him?"

"If he can handle the worst follow ever? Yeah, probably."

"You know you have to reverse your feet when you follow."

"That sounds like a lie.  And anyway, only my left foot knows how to rock-step."

Pidge laughed and stood up. "I'm going to check out the pickle situation, if I can stay out of Mom's way. Want me to get you anything?"

"Pidge, please. Did you forget we're related?"

"Ah, true. I'll bring a bowl."

 


	2. Goin' To Chicago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Goin' To Chicago by B.B. King](https://play.spotify.com/track/2zaKOD6AV0Leu5D2PlsF0j)

_I'm goin' to Chicago_  
_Sorry that I can't take you_  
_There's nothing in Chicago  
_ _That a man like you can do_

 

The doorbell rang, jarring Pidge out of her reading, and Shay called from the bathroom. "That'll be Hunk, can you let him in? I'm still finishing my hair."

"Yeah, okay." She unfolded her legs and pushed her chair back from the table, then trampled down the stairs to the front door.

It was Hunk, exactly as predicted, and predictably dressed like he'd never seen winter before even though he'd been in Milwaukee for seven years. His eyes smiled at her, and he waved a big gloved hand. "Hey, Pidge!"

"Hey dude, come on in, you look like you're freezing to death."

"It's not that bad."

She pushed the door shut behind him and followed him up the stairs. "What's the temperature in San Luis Obispo today?"

"I don't even want to know." He took the outermost of his layers off his face, and then blinked at her. "Jesus, I know you're from here, but are you really going to go out in that?"

She looked down at her outfit -- she had changed after class into her favorite cropped yoga pants and an old t-shirt. "This is what I wear dancing."

"I know it's your uniform, but you don't have sleeves and your ankles are bare and it's about negative a billion degrees outside."

"I was doing homework. We're not ready to go yet."

"You have homework already?  It's the first week."

She flipped the textbook shut with her notebook inside it, and shot him a little smirk. "I didn't get into the math department's PhD program at Northwestern by not doing my homework."

He gasped and clapped his hands to his chest. "Wait, really?!"

"Yeah." She grinned. "The letter came yesterday."

"Oh my god, that's so cool, let me see!"

She pulled it off the fridge and handed it too him, and he pulled one glove off with his teeth so he could unfold it.

"Oh my god, Pidge, this is amazing! Congratulations!" He threw his arms around her, but she pried him off almost immediately.

"Shit, Hunk, your coat's still cold from outside."

"Oh! Sorry."

Shay came into the kitchen then, as bubbly as ever, and draped her arm on Pidge's shoulder. "Isn't she great? She's been sweating this for _months_ though, it's such a relief to finally have the acceptance letter in her sweaty little paw."

Hunk took Shay's hand and brushed a kiss to her cheek. "Double bonus that Pidge being a rockstar makes you happy."

Shay giggled and turned bright pink; Pidge took her letter back from Hunk and stuck it on the fridge again before she went into her room to finish getting dressed and round up her dancing shoes, leaving the couple alone out in the kitchen. They never really spent much time alone -- they were physically affectionate in public a fair amount, and cuddly around their friends, but in the year-and-a-bit that they had been together, Pidge had _never_ known them to do anything like go into Shay's room and close the door.

Which, really, wasn't that much of a surprise. Pidge had known Shay since they moved into the same cinder brick dorm room as freshmen, and lived together ever since. Shay was a very straightforward kind of girl, her romantic tendencies always attenuated by a practical temperament. Most people who knew Shay casually would have pegged her as a Hufflepuff, and that's where she always self-sorted, but Pidge knew that her roommate was really a Slytherin at heart.

Shay's goals for her future were concrete, and in four years she hadn't wavered from them: she was committed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and equally committed to her life goal of taking the Church and reforming it however she could. She was now only a semester from finishing step one, getting a degree in political science. Step two was to find a like-minded Mormon husband so they could team up in a way that the church elders would listen to.

And the thing about Hunk, the thing that was relevant to this, was that he wasn't Mormon. Not even a little -- he wasn't even Christian, Pidge didn't think; he never talked about religion at all except academically, and he seemed to know as much about the faith of Pidge's people as he did about Shay's. And as much as Hunk wasn't Mormon, he was equally not Jewish -- he just had a tremendous breadth of knowledge.

Shay had been clear from the first time Hunk asked her on a date that this was a _for-now_ relationship. She was going to marry a Mormon man, and Hunk had been clear from the beginning as well that he wasn't going to convert, so that pretty much sealed their fate from day one.

Nevertheless, they'd been together for over a year, being very cute and dancing an awful lot. Shay never so much as hinted at the Mormon husband thing when she was with Hunk, though when her brother showed up to Thursday night dances once in a while he always kind of side-eyed Hunk, in that disapproving older brother way that Pidge got from Matt now and again.

Pidge did her best not to think about the fact that Shay and Hunk were definitely not sleeping together, because when she did she felt sort of bad for Hunk, and then she felt like a shitty friend because celibacy was Shay's decision and she was entitled to bodily autonomy, even if Pidge thought the reason was silly and old-fashioned.

Shay knocked on Pidge's door frame. "Ready?"

"Yeah." She hefted her backpack onto her shoulder, and in the kitchen stuffed her textbook into it as well.

"Are you seriously bringing homework to the dance?" Shay sighed.

"Yes." Pidge plopped into a chair to pull on her socks and boots. "I gotta stay on top of my shit, especially if I'm going to take off that weekend for Lindyfest. Profs don't care about dancing."

"Wouldn't it be an amazing world if they did," Hunk said.

"At my brother's college, their swing club had an event every year that was like Dancing with the Stars, but with professors. I got to go to it once, when I was in high school."

Shay grinned; she'd heard this story before, but it was apparently new to Hunk. "Wait, really?"

"Totally." She stood up and grabbed her coat from its hook in the hall. "I'll tell you about it in the car."

 

Blue Ribbon Hall was already hopping when they arrived, and seemed to have more than the usual number of people looking at their feet while they struggled to stay on top of the beat with an East Coast basic. Coran was sitting with his computer by the speakers, clearly not listening to whatever Allura was saying to him, though Pidge guessed it might have been something about _Teddy the Toad_ being _soooo_ predictable and why don't you challenge them.

"Must have been a big beginner class," Shay said after Hunk took all of their coats.

"Certainly looks that way," Pidge agreed, exchanging her snow boots for dancing shoes.

Lance and Keith were among those already there, and they descended on Hunk as soon as they spied him. Shay smiled. "You'd think they see enough of each other at home."

"Lance is such a slut for attention, though."

"True.  And it's not like we're any different."

Pidge laughed and leaned fondly into her roommate's shoulder; Shay reached up and ruffled her hair as the guys made their way over to them.

Lance held out his hand. "Shay, dance?"

"Of course!"

Keith raised one eyebrow at Pidge. "If I ask you to dance will you actually follow me?"

"That depends," she said, pushing her backpack under one of the chairs that lined the wall. "Are you going to be a good lead, or are you going to turn me off of men for the whole night right off the bat?"

Hunk snorted a laugh, and Keith tried to suppress a smile. "Better leads than me have turned you off of men."

She took his hand. "It doesn't take much. Give it a shot, though. If you're lucky I'll warn you before I start backleading."

It actually went pretty well. Keith kept it simple, and promenaded them around the whole room so they could rubberneck at the beginners. He also successfully dodged when Lance nearly hit Pidge with Shay on a big swing-out, and the other pair had a good laugh as they spun away across the room while _Teddy the Toad_ gave way to _Take the A Train_.

"Oh, we definitely have to get them back," Pidge said.

"Play it cool, boy," Keith said. "We've got all night. Let's wait an hour, and then tag-team and make him follow like six songs in a row."

Pidge groaned; Lance could follow, but he wasn't very good, and whenever she danced with him one of them would always end up backleading. "I don't know if I can lead Lance for three songs, even if I'm switching off with you."

"Even for vengeance?"

"Sorry."

"Maybe Hunk will help?"

Pidge looked around; Hunk was dancing with one of the newbies. "Maybe, but the thing is that Hunk doesn't mind that Lance is a shitty follow."

"But at least Lance can't switch it around. Hunk couldn't follow if his life depended on it."

"True." Pidge felt Keith's thumb twitch, and was immediately glad she paid attention because he pulled her through an energetic move with extremely subtle signals, to the point that she almost lost her balance. When they got into an open position she sat back into it, refusing to let him continue, and he scowled at her while the new people stared.

"You're so tiny," Keith whined. "How do you get so heavy when you're backleading?"

"I manipulate the Higgs field, obviously."

He rolled his eyes. "Let me lead you."

"Actually _lead_ instead of whatever you do with Lance."

"That's leading!"

"Not on this planet." But she relented, and he exaggerated the spin that pulled her into closed position again. "See, like that."

He huffed in frustration, but he was clear with his signals for the rest of the song, and even dipped her at the end.

"Thanks for the dance," she said, and Keith smiled at her.

"You're welcome. Hit me up again before you leave tonight?"

"Sure."

He went back out onto the floor in search of an unsuspecting follow, and Pidge headed for her homework, keeping an eye on her friends while she did. Hunk and Shay found each other for the next song, and Shiro had arrived by the one after, so Shay got a turn with him while Hunk let Allura show off her swivels to _On Mercury_.

Pidge had finished half of her assignment when Shay came over a while later. "Hey roomie."

"Hey you."

"Come dance with me. Coran has Van Morrison next just for us."

Pidge couldn't help grinning at her; _Moondance_ had sort of become their thing over the years, for whatever reason. "Well, if it's Van Morrison."

She put down her book and Shay pulled her up, and Pidge led her friend out onto the floor. It always seemed kind of silly, leading a girl as tall as Shay, but despite her weight she was a light follow and by now she and Pidge spoke the same dance language fluently. They danced with flawless connection, hitting all the hits in the song, singing along to their favorite bits, and finishing off with a dip that was a bit more than Pidge could actually handle, so Shay dropped the last couple inches to the floor, laughing while Pidge stammered apologies and helped her back upright.

"Shit, I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's fine! I saw it coming."

"Let me make it up to you? Another dance?"

"I'm sure other girls want to dance with you."

"They'll get their chance. Up for one more?"

"Sure, okay." The next song was a laid-back one, and Shay draped her arm over Pidge's shoulder in closed position. "So ... there's something I wanted to tell you about before it ... becomes a thing."

"Becomes a thing? What are you talking about?"

Shay took a deep breath. "When I was home over break I decided what I'm doing after graduation."

"Okay, and?"

"I'm going on my mission."

Pidge wasn't expecting that, and had to take a minute to collect herself. "Wait, but I thought that wasn't required for women."

"It's not, but I want to do it."

"Oh. Okay. Um, so. Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet."

"Right, okay." Pidge led her through a couple of distracted swing-outs while her mind spun away. "So this -- this means you're leaving Hunk."

Shay nodded, and looked a little uncomfortable. "Yeah. I -- I mean, I always knew it wasn't going to last with us. I can't marry him. He was for now."

Pidge couldn't help the intensity that was bubbling up inside her. "But, he -- have you told him yet?"

Shay shrugged. "He knows."

"No, I know he knows that part. Does he know you're leaving? Because if that was a surprise to me I'm pretty sure it'll be a surprise to him too."

Shay's eyes cut over to where Hunk was chatting with Lance by the DJ table. "No, I haven't told him about my mission yet. And ..."

"And what?"

"I think ... I think I'll have to break it off right away. It would be cruel to stay in a relationship with an expiration date."

Pidge's lungs suddenly didn't work, and the rushing in her ears drowned out the music. She stopped moving. "Are you for real?"

"Pidge, you--"

"No, just--" She took both of Shay's hands. "Tell me you're not fucking with me."

"I'm not, I would never. I'm serious."

"You're going to break up with him _tonight?_ "

"Maybe not tonight..."

"Shay!"

"Look, I'm sorry!" She caught herself, lowered her voice. "Come on, let's go sit, we're not dancing anyway."

Pidge followed her off the floor, back to their things, and they didn't sit, but they both picked up their water bottles. "I'm not ready to do it tonight," Shay murmured. "Not when he's having so much fun."

"Then when?"

"This weekend, I guess. We were planning to hang out Saturday afternoon, so ... yeah."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah."

Pidge stared at her water, then looked back up at Shay. "I'm sorry, I -- I was so surprised I forgot to comfort you."

Shay gave her a sad smile and bumped her with her hip. "I don't need comforting, but thank you."

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"I will be. It's going to be difficult, but it's important, and I've decided."

"Yeah. And you know I'll be here for you a hundred percent, whatever you need."

Shay's smile grew a little warmer. "You're really the best roommate I could ever want, Pidge."

"You're not so bad yourself. I almost don't mind the hair ties everywhere."

"Hah. Yeah right."

"I said almost."

Shay sat down and looked at her toes. "So you're not mad at me, right?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

She shrugged. "Because this is going to hurt Hunk."

Pidge's heart twisted a little; she'd been trying not to think about that. "Yeah, but he'll be okay. He's not more important than your life."

Shay looked up at her. "He'll have you."

Pidge backhanded her shoulder playfully. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know." Shay smiled. "Nothing. Just that you're a really good friend."

Pidge picked her textbook up off the chair and sat down. "I try."

Shay slouched down and leaned on Pidge's shoulder. "Homework?"

"Yup."

"What class is this?"

"Hebrew 102."

"Hm." Shay peered at the page. "Well, yes, I guess I would have been able to tell if I actually looked at it."

"Uh-huh."

"I bet you can't focus with me talking, huh."

Pidge tipped her head against Shay's. "Nope."

"I'll shut up?"

" _Toda rabah_."

Shay sat with her for a little bit, but got bored before long and went to chat and dance with their friends.

Pidge did her best to focus on the work at hand -- it wasn't due until next week, but she wanted to get it done now, because she had checked the syllabus for what her math stats professor was going to assign after tomorrow's lecture, and it was a hell of a problem set. But focus wasn't coming quite as easy as usual. She kept catching herself glancing up, finding Shay and Hunk in the crowd, seeing if they were interacting. Every time she looked they were with other people, though. She didn't want to read anything into that but honestly, how could she not?

 _Ugh_ , the assignment was getting to be a little too difficult for this setting. She flipped back through her notes, let herself get caught up in copying out phrases in script and giving them little doodled illuminations of textually-inappropriate robots and deep-sea monsters while she practiced pronouncing things under her breath.

Hunk flopped down into the chair next to Pidge, startling her out of her trance. "You're not dancing tonight?"

She blinked at him. " _Harahefet sh'eli mele'ah betzlofahim_."

"Right, staying on top of the academic thing."

"Yeah. Though I dunno how much more foreign language I can brain tonight."

"It is getting pretty late. And you had an early class today, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Thursdays are going to be kind of rough this semester, but at least I don't have anything until ten-thirty on Friday."

"Man, I miss college. I hate having to be at work at eight every day." He leaned back, draping his arms over the back of Pidge's chair and the one on the other side; she could tell from the smell that he'd worked up a bit of a sweat.  Not that she minded the smell -- he smelled like dancing, and she'd never admit out loud but she actually kind of liked it, it made her feel less self-conscious about her own sweatiness.

"I dunno, being in school is hard work. I feel like I'm never not working. You at least can leave it all at work."

"But at least school is interesting." He said it wistfully; he'd complained to her more than once about how dull he found his current job as a maintenance technician, how he wished he'd gone on to some sort of post-graduate thing because what did a Bachelor's degree really get you these days, even if it was in engineering? It seemed to be working out for Lance, but Hunk was clearly unhappy.

"You could go back to school."

"I'm trying. It's hard, though. Been out for a few years, so all the Master's programs I like aren't sure about me because why didn't I go initially." He hadn't gone initially for a multitude of reasons, notable among them that his anxiety had flared really badly his senior year at MSOE -- the first year that Pidge had known him -- and his grades took a dive. "Plus, you know, the money thing.  I've saved a bit but it wouldn't be enough to get me through a Master's degree."

"There's usually assistantships, I've got one of those. Pays pretty all right, enough to get by on. Plus the tuition waiver."

"I guess. I've got all that student debt, though. And I'd have to actually _get_ something that paid me."

Pidge sighed, frustrated; she really wanted to encourage him about this, build him up, but he was always so pessimistic about it. Probably definitely related to the anxiety thing, when she thought about it. It was so hard for him to see how brilliant he was at what he did, because in college he'd been surrounded by all kinds of geniuses to the point that he considered that normal, so being less than outstandingly exceptional felt like failing, even though he was in the top five percent of his class before the anxiety thing fucked him over and he dropped to the bottom fifteen. And even still, he landed a lucrative job at a big-name local company right after he graduated. Even if he sort of hated it. Though she suspected that was because he was often the smartest person in the room but didn't know it and just felt out of place.

"I'm gonna miss you," Hunk said, sounding like he was trying really hard to be casual.

Pidge's heart stopped for a second. "What?"

"In the fall, after you go to Chicago," Hunk clarified. "That's a little too far to come up for a dance every Thursday."

"Oh. Yeah." He wasn't talking about Shay, she hadn't told him yet; Pidge tried to relax her death grip on her pencil. "That's months away, though."

"I guess. I dunno." He shrugged. "I think too much."

"Pfft, bullshit. No such thing."

He gave her a little smile that felt decidedly bittersweet. "You wanna dance? I mean, I know you danced with Keith right away, and he usually puts you off following, so I'd understand if you were only going to dance with girls after that."

"I'll follow for you."

He pulled his arms back in and held out his hand to her. "You know how to make a guy feel special."

She stood up and let him lead her onto the floor as the next song started; it was something bluesy that she didn't recognize immediately. "I'll always follow for you, you know."

He grinned and looked away, shy. "Stop."

"I mean it. You're a fantastic lead."

"You make it easy. You're a fantastic follow."

She smiled, maybe a little too big, and hoped that she was just flushed from exertion. "One of these days I'm going to teach you to follow and then we can switch."

He laughed, pulled her through a particularly flashy Texas Tommy, and then caught her in closed position. "Sounds good."

   


* * *

   


[Rebloggable on Tumblr](http://ladymac111-draws.tumblr.com/post/157148698042/goin-to-chicago-blues-shay-and-pidge-from-chapter)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other songs in this chapter:  
> [Teddy the Toad by Count Basie](https://play.spotify.com/track/6BGu9IJlUza0h7YrTWElnD)  
> [Take the "A" Train by Duke Ellington](https://play.spotify.com/track/5MNdrBR0VSjNTiluJRNcdm)  
> [On Mercury by The Red Hot Chili Peppers](https://play.spotify.com/track/6uCqzA5JPOCtquPswsrmsC)  
> [Moondance by Van Morrison](https://play.spotify.com/track/2stkLJ0JNcXkIRDNF3ld6c)


	3. Love Me Or Leave Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Love Me Or Leave Me by Nina Simone](https://play.spotify.com/track/3yKvTBIJn1D6nlBGI5DYti)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> (check out chapter 2 for an illustration that I just added!)

_There'll be no one_  
_Unless that someone is you_  
_I intend to be independently blue_

 

 Pidge was almost home when she remembered what day it was: Saturday. Which meant this was they day Shay was going to tell Hunk.

She had been out since mid-morning at an event the Physics department was hosting, a visiting professor giving a talk about about computer modeling of the formation of planetary systems. And in Pidge's scientific excitement she had completely forgotten that today was The End for Shay and Hunk.

She checked the mailbox -- just a flyer for some restaurant -- and took a deep breath before she unlocked the door and climbed the stairs to their apartment.

Shay was curled up on the couch, burritoed in their fuzziest blanket, and Pidge's heart sank. "Shay?"

The burrito turned over; Shay's face was blotchy and red, but her eyes were dry. "Hey Pidge."

"It happened?"

"It happened."

Pidge dropped her things in the kitchen and came into the living room. "Do you want a hug?"

"Yeah."

Pidge sat down as best she could and draped herself over her roommate, who curled up a little tighter, pressing her legs against Pidge's back.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Shay heaved a deep sigh. "Thanks."

Pidge sat up, allowing Shay to pull the blanket away from her face. "Of course. Any time."

"Can I tell you what happened?"

"God, please. I was hoping you would but I didn't want to ask."

Shay smiled at her a little. "I met him at Colectivo after my rehearsal this morning."

"The one on Humboldt?"

"Yeah. The plan was we were going to get coffee and then come back here to hang out." Shay loved Colectivo, and had decided two years ago that she didn't care that technically decaf still had a little bit of caffeine in it. If she couldn't tell, she figured it didn't matter.

Pidge tried to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat. "So you told him there?"

"Yeah. He got there before I did, so I got my coffee and sat down with him and then told him that I'm going to go on mission. He figured out before I was done talking what that meant for us."

"God, poor guy."

"Yeah. He still asked me to say it, though. He needed to hear it to know he wasn't imagining it."

Pidge folded her arms across her chest and hunched down, leaning back into the solid warmth of Shay's hips. "Did he cry?"

"Oh yeah, like, high-budget anime tears. He tried so hard to keep it together but he was obviously never going to _not_ get super emotional."

"You cried too?"

"Of course I did. Two of us were a mess." Shay sniffled and rubbed at her nose from inside the blanket. "Kind of trying not to do it again. I don't want to any more, I've had enough."

"How long have you been home?"

"What time is it?"

Pidge pulled her sleeve down to check her watch. "Almost two."

"I met him at eleven-thirty. I was only there for ten minutes before we left."

"And then you walked home?"

"Uh-huh. I think he sat in his car and cried for a while before he drove back to his place. I did text Lance later to make sure he got there okay."

Pidge's breath released all at once. "Oh, good."

Shay tipped her head to peer up at Pidge. "You've been worried about him."

Pidge raised her eyebrows. "Well, yeah. He's sensitive and he's been totally in love with you for a year."

"Hm," Shay said, and looked away, which struck Pidge as being very odd.

"Wait, what's that?"

Shay frowned and tried to gather the blanket closer to her chin, but Pidge was sitting on it, so it didn't go anywhere. She sighed, apparently resigned to it. "I never let him say he loved me."

Pidge was shocked into silence for a second. "You _what_?"

"I didn't. He started trying to say it over the summer, but I always stopped him."

"Shay..."

She shook her head. "Please, Pidge, don't use that tone." She ducked her face into the blanket for a moment before she came up again. "It's all part of this, all part of my life plan. It was bad enough just _knowing_ he was in love with me, I couldn't bear to hear it too."

"I thought for sure he'd said it. That you'd said it."

"No. I never ... I never said it. I couldn't."

Pidge was silent -- everything she thought she'd known about their relationship, the things she'd assumed ... apparently not true. Shay had been holding Hunk at arm's length the whole time, never letting him get close enough to think it would really last between them. Though it was clear because she knew Hunk well enough, that this hadn't exactly worked, despite Shay's efforts. And it was clear from this conversation that it hadn't stopped Shay from getting attached either; now she was tearing up again.

"I wanted to find a way to make it work," Shay whispered. "I wanted it so much. To have him without giving up everything else I care about. I spent the whole summer trying to find a way."

"Oh, hon."

Shay gave a little laugh, and a couple of tears dripped down her face. "You're so Midwestern when you say that."

"News flash, you're in the Midwest."

"Yeah, yeah." She wiped her face. "I'm never going to find someone like him again."

Pidge shook her head and rubbed Shay's shoulder. "There are guys _like_ him. Nobody exactly the same, but there are so many people in the world, and you attract all the best ones. You can still find someone. Someone who's everything you need."

"You're so sweet, Pidge, but that's not really the comfort I want right now."

"Oh, of course. Sorry." She wasn't sure what to say from there; she wasn't going to rub it in that Hunk _was_ special, enormously so. "There, there?"

Shay's lips broke into a grin. "That's more you."

"Yeah, I try." She sighed, feeling a bit more comfortable now that she'd had that emotional connection with Shay, but the vulnerability was past. "So are we gonna have a night in?"

"No, I have plans with Reggie." Her brother lived up in Brown Deer with his wife, and Shay typically saw them about once a month.

"You don't usually see him on Saturdays."

"Yeah, well, he knew about my mission and that I was going to break up with Hunk, so he swooped in and did the protective older brother thing. I won't be super late though, we'll probably have time for some West Wing and popcorn when I get back."

Pidge draped herself over Shay's shoulders again, hugging her as well as she could. "Count on it."

"Thanks, Pidge."

She sat up reluctantly. "Anyway, I should do some coding. Okay if I go be a hermit now?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Shay started to sit up, and Pidge got to her feet to give her the space. "Reggie's actually coming to pick me up at three, and I wanted to wash my hair first."

Pidge felt that relief _whoosh_ through her again -- Shay was always so pragmatic, so good at taking care of herself. "Sounds like a plan."

Shay went and started the shower, because it always took a good five minutes for the hot water to come up from the basement, and Pidge went into her room and half closed the door. Her desk was completely covered in crap that she didn't have the motivation to unfuck, so she dropped her backpack and laptop on the foot of her bed and crawled up, sitting cross-legged in front of the window that faced the neighbor's wall.

Somehow she had the magical luck to be here during the ten minutes that she got sun at this time of year, so she leaned her temple against the cold window pane and let the light shine on her face while she tried to re-center herself.

Shay and Hunk were done. And Shay had seemed remarkably composed, though maybe that was because she'd gotten through all the ugly crying while Pidge was off geeking out with physicists. There was also a nonzero probability that Shay was going to cry in the shower, but that was probably the best place to cry.

It occurred to Pidge that the thing she was stuck on was how _sure_ Shay was of her decision, how even though she was sad, she knew this was the right thing for her and she was going to do it. Even though it meant giving up a relationship with the best man either of them knew.

_Maybe you feel like this because you'd hate yourself if you ever gave up what they had._

It was a dumb thing to think, and Pidge didn't want to think it, because there was no point. Pidge had never had anything like what Shay and Hunk just ended. She'd never been with anyone like Hunk -- she'd been with girls who had one of his qualities, like the blazing intelligence, or the overwhelming sweetness, or the six-foot stature. But nobody had the combination.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened the messages. The last time she'd texted Hunk was almost a week ago, before Shay had dropped the bomb on Thursday night. She really wanted to check in on him now, to see if he was okay. Well, obviously he wasn't, but she wanted to check in anyway. The question was, how to do it without it being weird that she was Shay's roommate.

She took a breath and tried to feel determined. _Hey man, Shay told me what happened. How are you doing?_ And send.

Pidge watched the screen for a minute, but it didn't show read. Which was fair, he was probably doing something. Somebody not checking a message in thirty seconds meant nothing at all.

She put down the phone and opened her computer. Her music was on top, paused in the middle of _Little Girl Blue._ She backed it up to the beginning of the track and hit play, then pulled up her assignment and tried to figure out where she'd left off. Hunk would text back when he got to it, she didn't have to worry about him. Now was the time for school work.

 _Love me or leave me_  
_Let me be lonely_  
_You won't believe me  
_ _But I love you only_  
_I'd rather be lonely_  
 _Than happy with somebody else_

 


	4. The Nearness of You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The Nearness of You by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong](https://play.spotify.com/track/6Hni9iXlQuUTgglfSBS3gQ)

_It's not the pale moon that excites me_  
_That thrills and delights me  
_ _Oh no, it's just the nearness of you_

 

It was four days before Hunk texted Pidge back, and he didn't even really respond to her question, he just let her know he wouldn't be going to the dance on Thursday so he couldn't give her a ride like he usually did.

So of course Pidge found herself completely unable to shake the thought that Hunk wasn't going because he was trying to avoid Shay. But she _also_ wasn't going, something about her quintet rehearsing for Renee's recital, though Pidge got the distinct feeling that was mostly an excuse to avoid Hunk because their wind quintet had been together since they were freshmen and never conflicted with dancing before.

On Thursday evening, Shiro picked her up, and she crammed into the car with Allura and Coran and Coran's computer bag. She danced hard, trying not to notice that her two best friends weren't there because they were avoiding each other. And then she fell asleep in the car on the way home, even though it was only a short drive, which really didn't help that she already felt like such a baby around these people -- she was still a college student, only twenty-one, and they were all real adults with real jobs who gave her sort of sympathetic murmurings about Hunk and Shay's breakup that she really didn't want to hear. She didn't want their breakup to bother her, and she didn't know why it did, which was absolutely maddening.

Life with Shay continued as it had for the past four years, and Pidge tried not to feel the absence of Hunk hanging out at their place on the weekend, or picking them up on Thursday, or just dropping in on a weeknight for half an hour. It was impossible not to miss his cooking, when she would open the fridge to find yogurt and ketchup and absolutely no plastic containers of leftovers from him.

January dragged its slush and grey into February, and circumstances conspired to keep Pidge from dancing for two weeks in a row, to her dismay. She found herself listening to jazz all the time instead of her other music, tapping her feet under her chair during lecture, nearly breaking into a bluesy basic while she waited in line for coffee and the shop's sound system gave her Ella and Louis crooning together, sweet and just a little sexy.

And then it was Valentine's Day, which Pidge spent in a computer lab, and Shay spent in a practice room and the library. But Pidge was focused on Saturday -- the live band dance. She would be damned if she was going to miss that, Hallmark Holiday or not. Plus, Lance had told her that Hunk had started going to dances again while she was away, and would definitely be there.

Pidge already had her coat on when Hunk's car pulled up in front of the house, and she tore down the stairs, only barely remembering her bag with her shoes and water. Keith was in the passenger seat, so she climbed into the back with Lance, and Hunk halfway turned around to smile at her.

"Hey," she said, trying to sound casual. "How's it going? It's been a while."

His smile faltered for a second. "Yeah, it has." He turned forward and put the car in gear. "Things have been okay."

"I was worried about you," she blurted, and Keith's head whipped around.

She couldn't see Hunk's face in the dark, but she heard the tension in his voice, how he had to force the syllables out of his throat. "You were worried?"

"Yeah, you know." She glanced at Lance, who shook his head. "You know why," she sighed. "And then you didn't text me back for a while."

Hunk was silent, and Keith cleared his throat. "We took him to a movie when he got home that day. Lego Batman is good for the soul."

Oh thank fuck, a different topic. "Yeah, how was that one? I heard good things."

"It was _awesome_ ," Lance said. "You have to see it."

Which led into Keith picking him up on the relative merits of all of the Batman movies of the last dozen years, and neither Pidge nor Hunk had to talk for the rest of the drive. They found parking two blocks from the venue, and when they went in Hunk paid Pidge's cover for her with a soft little smile, before he put his hand on her shoulder to usher her into the ballroom. The place was filling up fast and the band was already cooking, so they crammed their coats in one big pile before they pulled on their dancing shoes and hit the floor.

Pidge managed to follow one dance with each of the guys, plus Coran, and three guys she didn't really know, before she'd had enough and started asking girls. Most of them swooned a little when they realized Pidge was going to lead, to her great satisfaction, and many of them told her by the end of the song that now they wanted to learn to lead too. Amy all but jumped on Pidge after her fifth dance with a new girl, and they playfully traded leads for two songs.

She finally sat down when the band took their second break, and chugged most of her water bottle in one go. Hunk joined her a minute later, also with his water, and they both sat for a couple of minutes, watching the dancers and letting their sweat cool off slightly.

"Some dance," Hunk finally said. "I've never even seen half of these people."

"Yeah," Pidge agreed. "I'm sure some of them are beginners, but a lot of them obviously aren't."

He nodded. "When the band comes back and I stop sweating, will you dance with me?"

For a second she wasn't sure if he'd really said it, or if her sleep-deprived mind was doing its own thing. She blinked at him, and he made eye contact with a surprised kind of look on his face. "Wait, what?"

"No, nothing, sorry." She shook her head and looked away, and her neck prickled as she forced herself to look back. "Yes, I'll dance with you."

He made an uncertain expression. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, no, I'm sorry." She reached out, about to put her hand on his knee, but second-guessed herself at the last second and gave him an awkward pat instead. "I do want to dance with you. My mind was elsewhere, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, how's school going? I feel like I haven't talked to you in a long time, I've been missing my chance to live vicariously."

She glanced at him and gave him a little smile. "It's good. Math stats is kind of kicking everyone's asses but I'm enjoying it."

"That's good. And Hebrew?"

"Turns out that's my hard class this semester. We're at the point that we can make small talk and order food."

Hunk chuckled. "That's a trying stage of language learning."

"Yeah. I feel like I want to express complex thoughts, but I really don't have the vocabulary."

"That's rough. Remind me what else you have this semester?"

"My computer science capstone project, and art history survey because I kept putting off that part of my distribution requirement."

"Ooh, art history, how's that?"

Pidge shrugged. "Easy to fall asleep. It's just endless slideshows. Sort of interesting, though. Definitely not as bad as I'd expected."

He looked over at where the band was starting to reassemble. "Ready for that dance?"

"Sure."

They got up and went out to the floor, and Hunk held her in closed position until the bandleader counted off the tempo and the saxes and trumpets started, soft and warm. He moved her gently, mostly just steps back and forth, until the drums came in and the beat made itself clear.

They danced easily, gentle swing-outs and lazy turns interspersed with little promenades in closed position. Pidge felt like he was keeping her close more than he normally did, but maybe she was imagining it, maybe she was just more attuned to it than usual. Or maybe it was because it was a laid-back song, and this wasn't the place for energetic moves. She watched his face every time he got her into open position, and he looked happy, relaxed; more so than he had previously in the evening.

And then the tune ended suddenly, taking them both by surprise, and they paused awkwardly several steps apart, connected only by the elastic tension in their joined hands.

She looked at the band, then back at him. "Another?"

His confused expression turned immediately into a soft smile. "Of course."

The keyboard led off the next song, and it was even slower -- Pidge recognized it instantly, they were covering that same romantic Ella song she'd heard at the coffee shop, with a clarinet playing the singer. Hunk seemed to know it too; he got that comfortable look and feel like he always did with his favorite songs, moving with confidence since he knew exactly where the music was going. They started dancing slowly, leaning back into the open position they already had, pulling on the connection. "This is perfect for blues," Hunk said, like he was asking a question.

"Definitely," Pidge agreed, doing her best to tell him with that one word that that was exactly what she wanted.

He smiled in a knowing way, a private way that looked like it was only for her, and her heart fluttered as he changed up the tension in their connection. She followed a few very slow turns, his hand on her back catching her, changing direction, pulling her around a few times before he finally brought her up against his body.

She tried to get her arm up on top of his, but he apparently hadn't accounted for their height difference initially. Her face was in his chest for a few awkward beats until he adjusted himself, became a little bit shorter, and then somehow took her whole weight with his body. The touch of him was breathtakingly intimate. "Sorry about that," he murmured in her ear.

"No problem." She could barely get the words out. His face was right next to hers, she could feel the heat of him permeating her skin, warming her all the way down as he danced with her so slowly, so fluidly that she didn't even really know what she was doing. She just felt the beat, let her feet keep time as he moved them.

When the press of his hand on her back relaxed, it took her a moment to realize that she had to follow it, but then she leaned back, giving up the contact with his body. He pulled them through a turn, then spun her gently out into open position.

She could still feel the residual sensation of his breath on her cheek; if she let her eyes partially close she could focus on the touch of his hand under her fingers, respond more delicately to his lead. If she had to be out here in open, she would pay attention to the part of him she did have.

He brought her back into closed, and apparently he was as distracted as she was, because his chin bumped her cheek and his lip brushed across the tip of her nose before they arranged themselves properly. His face had caught her glasses, too, pushing them askew, and she quickly set them right again.

Pidge's heart thundered as he held her, as she gripped his shoulder much harder than she meant to. _It would have been so easy to turn her head and kiss him._ She bit her lip to try to keep it inside, to have something else to think about besides the way she could feel his chest expanding when he breathed in, the way the flexing of his quad between her thighs told her which direction he was about to move. It told her other things too: dark secret things that existed deep within her. Things that she couldn't trust the provenance of but that whispered that they were more real than anything. Sweaty things, physical things, things that wanted to rip her clothes off.

She felt warm all over, and her breath was coming more shallowly than it should. She forced herself to inhale a reasonable amount, and when her chest expanded she felt Hunk's hand shift just a tiny bit on her back.

That zapped her back to reality, preparing for him to lead something -- but he didn't. He just adjusted his hold a little bit lower, more waist than bra band now, and kept with the simple movements. Pidge was overwhelmed with relief that he wasn't moving her away, that she could stay like this, like the only thing in the world was him and her and the music playing just for them, _the nearness of you._

But, as all things must, the song wound to its end. Luckily Hunk did apparently know its roadmap as well as she did, found some energy in his dance and picked up the lead again with enough time to bring her into a deep, sultry dip. She kept her left leg around his hip, wishing that her flesh could tell his what it wanted, and when the clarinet and muted trumpet faded out his face was just a breath in front of hers and she wanted to taste his lips _so badly._

He made eye contact, and she wondered for a split second if he knew but then he stood her back up. They lingered for a moment, still almost in position while the next song started, something much quicker that chased away whatever _that_ was that had passed between them. It took her a second to realize that this song was a Queen cover and the band definitely had a theme for this evening.

Hunk let go of her, and she stepped back reluctantly, cleared her throat as they walked off the floor. "Thanks for the dance." Her voice came out weird.

He smiled like it meant everything, and she didn't think she was imagining the redness in his cheeks. "You're welcome." His voice was soft, gentle, just for her.

She felt for a protracted moment like she was seeing him for the first time. His shirt had splotchy damp spots from sweat, and the skin on the sides of his face glistened with it as well, even though it hadn't been a vigorous dance. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back off his face and then leaving it sticking up in an endearingly haphazard way. His hair was starting to get long, she realized; long enough in front that it fell in his eyes, and tending to fluff around his ears when it got mussed up like this. She wanted to touch it, to smooth it down and run her fingers through it, to caress him.

Pidge clenched her fingers into tight fists and looked away from him, at the dancers on the floor. Lance was dancing with Amy, and he gave her a wink when he caught her eye.

She blushed furiously -- Lance had noticed. Because Lance always noticed, he always _knew_. She couldn't bring herself to look at Hunk, still standing close beside her.

When the song ended, one of the apparently-new leads asked her to dance, and then another after him. And she was glad that they danced like beginners, that they did simple moves and were just having a lot of fun, because it engaged her enough that she couldn't keep chewing on the memory of that dance with Hunk and tying herself into knots over the things inside her that had unexpectedly come to light.

She didn't dance with Hunk again for the rest of the evening, but she kept catching herself trying to spot him in the crowd, seeing if he danced with anyone else like he had danced with her. Pidge was sitting and resting when the next slow song came up, and she caught glimpses of him dancing blues with Jen that made her chest feel weird, but she couldn't look away. Jen was small too, and he moved her around like she weighed nothing, impressive spins and promenades, and Jen looked so elegant, so beautiful, with her dark hair perfectly curled and her swishy dress that was probably actually vintage.

And then Jen's husband Dave came up to them right after the song ended, said something to Hunk that made all of them laugh, and took Jen's arm.

"Pidge?"

She startled and looked up -- Shiro had somehow snuck up on her. "Oh, hey."

"I think this is the last song, want to dance?"

The drums started up, soft brushes on the snare, and the piano came in -- they were doing _La Vie En Rose,_ but thankfully an upbeat version. She made herself smile at Shiro and stand up. "Sure."

It was a nice easy dance with him, a cool-down, and she got to hear all about his new right arm prosthesis as well as experiencing it in action -- it definitely moved better than his previous one. He was especially excited about the range of motion in the wrist, showed her how he could actually lead with the hand on her back now in a way he couldn't before. Pidge caught herself thinking that Hunk would love to have Shiro show it off to him.

It did turn out to be the last song, and they thanked each other before they went to collect their things. Which meant being near Hunk again. He smiled at her before they changed their shoes, and then they went out into the night with Lance and Keith, who were all over each other. Pidge got the front seat of the car for the drive back to her place, and before she opened the door Hunk touched her knee, making her pause.

"Thanks for coming tonight," he murmured with a smile. "It was really great to see you."

She grinned, and wasn't sure exactly what to say for a moment. "You too. Have a good night, okay?"

"I will."

She got out of the car, heard them pull away after she had unlocked the front door. Shay was apparently asleep, since it was after midnight; Pidge took a quick shower to rinse off the sweat before she got into bed. She fell asleep with the memory of Hunk's touch on her skin, wondering how it was that tonight had shown him to her in a whole new light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other songs in this chapter:  
> [Exactly Like You by Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie](https://play.spotify.com/track/6xemWmzG4GwkT2NymH9QYx)  
> [Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen](https://play.spotify.com/track/35ItUJlMtjOQW3SSiTCrrw)  
> [La Vie En Rose by Louis Armstrong](https://play.spotify.com/track/6BGu9IJlUza0h7YrTWElnD)
> 
> Recommended listening: [Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau instrumental cover of "The Nearness of You"](https://play.spotify.com/track/3MhWFpRMVEyZ9QXGIb5RJK) that didn't make it into a playlist because it's not danceable, but is really beautiful.
> 
> Oh my god you guys, oh my god. [ Soop drew the dance. I feel like I've gone to heaven.](http://soopdraws.tumblr.com/post/158415908080/hey-nyall-ladymac111-draws-tumblr-wont-let-me)


	5. Don't Get Around Much Anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Don't Get Around Much Anymore by Duke Ellington](https://play.spotify.com/track/58ckBAgDZhJEgOvPBToAPd)

_Awfully different without you  
_ _Don't get around much anymore_

 

 

The weather was unseasonably warm when Hunk came to get Pidge on Thursday night for the dance, so much so that Pidge left her coat at home and went out in just a hoodie. It was only Hunk that week -- Keith had some sort of work thing, and Lance had gone home for his grandparents' anniversary.

The crowd at the dance was smaller than usual, so they found each other multiple times through the evening. They danced easily, possibly even more so than ever before, connecting perfectly in both musical and technical aspects. And when Hunk took her home afterwards, he took her hand and squeezed it before she got out of the car, which made her smile hugely and almost giggle.

The next week, Shay was finally ready to go back to dancing, so Hunk's car was completely full and Pidge was stuck with the middle of the back seat. Lance talked to Pidge the whole way, clearly trying to cover the awkwardness of Hunk and Shay seeing each other for the first time in a month, and obfuscate the fact that they hadn't said anything to each other beyond hello before Shay turned to look out the window and Hunk gave extra focus to the road.

When they got to the dance, Amy and Jen glommed onto Shay immediately, leaving Pidge standing next to Hunk, both of them holding their dancing shoes and watching the girls retreat over to the DJ table.

Hunk let out a sigh that sounded tense. "Well, I'm glad she's back."

Pidge looked up at him, but couldn't read his expression. "Yeah. It was kind of weird without her."

He sort of hummed, a weird non-response, and Pidge decided she didn't like this. She stepped forward and slipped her hand into his. "Okay, weird is over. Let's dance."

He looked uncertain, so she pulled him towards the floor, and his face softened into an amused smile. "Okay, fine."

Dancing with him was a relief, comfortable and familiar, like putting on a favorite sweater. He seemed to be enjoying it too, relaxing back to his usual easygoing self. The song was one that Coran played a lot, despite the fact that it was written in 1995 and wasn't actually jazz. But Randy Newman was easy to dance and fun, and Pidge was able to forget everything except the music and her friend.

"So," Pidge said, when the song ended, "I was thinking. Do you have plans this weekend?"

"Not really, why?"

"I was thinking of going to Science and Surplus. Maybe on Saturday? Matt's birthday is coming up so I wanted to get him a bunch of inexplicable crap."

Hunk grinned. "That sounds awesome, I haven't been there in a long time."

Pidge had a thought then, and decided she'd better say it before she could start to think that the outing was a date. "Do you want to see if Lance and Keith want to come?"

Hunk's smile took on a forced quality. "Um ... you know, they probably won't want to. If the weather's good they'll go frolfing."

The weather was supposed to be chilly, and possibly rain. Pidge decided not to bring this up. "So just us. That'll be nice."

"Yeah," he said, sounding hopeful again. "It will."

Shiro approached them then to ask Pidge for a dance, and she didn't see much of Hunk until a couple hours later, though despite herself she kept an eye out for him the whole time. He and Shay didn't dance, may not have even spoken, even on the ride home, where Pidge managed to score the front seat.

"So, Saturday," she said when Hunk turned onto her block.

"Right," he said. "When did you want to go?"

"I think they open at ten, and I'd like to do this on the early side."

"Sounds good. Pick you up about nine forty-five?"

"Great." They stopped in front of the house, and Pidge undid her seatbelt.

"Wait," Lance said, leaning forward with his hand on Hunk's seat, "what's happening Saturday?"

Hunk turned halfway around and waved at Pidge as she got out of the car. "Me and Pidge are going to Science and Surplus."

"Oh! Sounds fun." Pidge couldn't see Lance's face any more, but she got a knowing smile from Shay as she climbed out of the back seat, and Hunk reached over to wave at her in the passenger window before he put the car in gear and pulled away.

 

Saturday morning was chilly and windy, bright but overcast when Hunk arrived to get Pidge at a quarter to ten. And it wasn't good disc golf weather, but Keith and Lance had decided to spend the morning playing video games in their pajamas. So Hunk was alone in the car, and gave Pidge a bright smile when she climbed in. "Good morning."

"Hey." She grinned at him in a way that made his chest feel warm. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good, I'm excited to see what's new at the store."

"Hell to the yeah, let's go check it out!"

American Science and Surplus was absolutely stuffed with treasures, as always, and only a few other customers. Pidge seemed to be on a mission, so Hunk let her go at her own pace while he hung back, browsing things more slowly. He didn't have anything in mind, but he never left this place empty-handed. After a bit he got chatting with the employee behind the counter -- Becky, her nametag said -- who was wearing comically enormous glasses, and he pointed out Pidge, who was inspecting something in the military surplus section. Becky looked at Pidge, then back at Hunk with a puckish grin and reached under the counter. "This is exactly why we keep one of these up here." She produced a large device made of black plastic, and handed it to Hunk.

"What's this?"

"Airzooka. I bet you can hit her from here."

He adjusted his grip on the thing, tentatively pulled back on the elasticized part. "What does it do?"

"Shoots a puff of air across the room. It's pretty much the best prank weapon in the world, though unfortunately we don't have any more in stock right now so you can't take one home."

Hunk aimed it at Pidge. "How's the accuracy?"

"Find out."

He pulled it back and released, and a second later Pidge's hair blew over the top of her head and she made a strangled squeaking sound before she whipped around towards them, eyes wide. "The fuck was that?!"

Hunk laughed out loud, then aimed and fired again. This one hit her smack in the face, and she cringed as her hair fluttered. "Dude!"

Becky high-fived him as Pidge stalked towards the middle of the store, red-faced and scowling but obviously biting back a grin. "Give me that."

Hunk handed it over, and she fired one point-blank at his face. "The hell is this? I need one."

"Out of stock," Becky said sadly. "But they have them at like toy stores and online too. I'd offer to preorder it for you here but we don't know if we'll be getting more."

Pidge looked up at Hunk, eyes wide and now smiling freely. "I just imagined shooting Lance with this while he's dancing."

Hunk laughed again, a little louder than he meant to, and felt himself starting to blush. "Oh my god, he would kick your ass."

"I know, it's great." She handed the Airzooka back to Becky and grabbed Hunk's sleeve. "Come on, I need you to talk me out of buying a World War Two portable latrine."

"Wait, a _what_?"

"You heard me."

 

In the end, Hunk did manage to talk Pidge out of spending a hundred dollars on a vintage latrine, but it was a close thing. He wound up with a slightly irresponsible number of funnels, and a handful of other small housewares. Pidge's basket was packed mainly with stuff he couldn't readily identify, plus a package of forty dozen assorted resistors, and a promotional tote bag with conspicuous typographical errors that she was going to use as wrapping for the other stuff when she gave it to Matt. He watched in amusement as she bundled it all into her backpack.

"I think we did pretty well for ourselves," she said as they headed out.

"I think we did," he agreed. "And it's about lunch time, are you hungry?"

"Oh man, yeah. What were you thinking?"

"Burgers and custard? We're pretty close to Oscar's. My treat?"

Pidge's face brightened even more. "Can't say no to that! I haven't been to Oscar's in a long time."

"Neither have I." Hunk unlocked the car and they climbed in. "Do you want to google and see what their flavor is today?"

"Sure."

It didn't take her long to find it, though it wasn't one of his favorites, and it was clear from her tone that she wasn't into it either. But they always had chocolate and vanilla, he pointed out, to which she agreed and added that a cheeseburger was really what she was after.

Traffic was light, so the drive was short, and the parking lot wasn't yet full with the lunch rush when they arrived. They both knew what they wanted, and ordered quickly before stepping aside to wait.

"So," Hunk said, tucking his hands in his pockets. "You have any plans for this afternoon?"

"I do, actually. Shay's playing in Renee's senior recital tonight, so I'm going to that."

Hunk's chest tightened, and he tried to ignore it. "Sounds fun."

She shrugged and glanced away. "I don't know. It's a flute recital, so however much fun that is."

"Bet the snacks will be good, though. They were for her junior recital last year."

Pidge looked back at him with the beginning of a smile. "Oh yeah, you went to that, didn't you? Shay and the quintet played in that one too."

"Yeah, that's why I went. Too bad you had to miss it, I actually enjoyed it."

She raised her eyebrows playfully. "Really."

"What, I can't enjoy classical music? I was in the choir in high school, I developed an appreciation."

"I know. Maybe I'm biased because I played the saxophone so the best music I ever got to play was jazz."

"'s that why you got into swing dancing?"

"Probably a big part of it."

The kid behind the counter called their number, and Hunk picked up the tray. "Where do you want to sit?"

"Up by the windows. I think there's a corner table open."

There was indeed, so they got to enjoy the sun when it came out while they ate their burgers and fries. Pidge somehow got Hunk to open up to her about his problems at work, and to be honest it felt great to finally get a lot of that frustration off his chest. She actually seemed to be interested in a lot of the technical aspects as well, possibly even more than he was. By the time they finished eating he felt more relaxed than he had in weeks, and was not ready to be done with her company already. So he suggested custard, and after some discussion she agreed to share a turtle sundae.

Hunk got up to order it, and during the minute he had to wait he glanced back at Pidge, who had her phone out and looked to be reading something thoughtfully. The sun had broken through the clouds again, and her hair was shining gold, like a halo. _Beautiful_ popped into his mind, uninvited; but how could he deny it? It wasn't the sort of word he'd normally apply to Pidge, but today ... something was different about today, and it wasn't just the quality of the light. He'd always had affection for her, but right now it was higher and stronger and more exhilarating than it had ever been before. It filled him in a way that was almost disconcerting, if the feeling itself hadn't been so blissful.

He was so distracted that the kid who made his order had to call him twice, and when he did step up to the counter she gave him a knowing look before she silently pulled out a second spoon and stuck it in the bowl. He stammered a _thank you_ before he returned to their table.

Pidge's face lit up when she saw the custard, and she had the first bite in her mouth before he'd even slid back into the booth. But then she slowed down, waited for him; they ate without speaking, trading bites, and Hunk couldn't shake the feeling that this was one of the most intimate things he'd ever done with someone. Not like he hadn't shared food before, he did that all the time, but ... he couldn't put his finger on it. The way she turned the bowl so the really good lake of caramel and fudge was towards him, how he felt when he pushed the cherry in her direction, and the gentle smile she gave before she picked it up and popped it in her mouth.

And then it was impossible not to focus on her mouth, the way her lips pulled the custard off the spoon, how she stuck out her tongue between bites when she was focusing on the bowl again, on making sure that Hunk got as much of the best parts as she did.

It was over too soon, and Hunk felt a little bit like he hadn't even tasted the custard himself -- like everything he'd experienced had come vicariously through her.

They went outside again, and it was a few degrees warmer than it had been previously, shaping up to be a pretty nice day after all. They didn't speak much, but it was familiar, comfortable; Pidge tipped her head towards the window to get more sun on her face, eyes gently closed, and she hummed along with the radio.

When they got to Pidge's house, Hunk parallel-parked on the street and then turned off the engine. Pidge hesitated as she reached for the door handle. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged and unbuckled his seatbelt. "I want to give you a hug, and I can't in the car." He jiggled the gear shifter for emphasis, then opened the door.

Pidge got out on her side with her backpack, and waited while he came around the front over to where she was standing on the not-quite-frozen grass. He was about to second-guess himself when she reached for him with both arms, and he immediately relaxed and wrapped himself around her, nearly lifting her off her feet. She was so warm and soft, a perfect fit for his embrace, and he hoped he wasn't imagining how tightly she held on to his shoulders.

"Thanks for taking me to Science and Surplus," she said quietly. "And for lunch. I had a lot of fun."

"Me too." He put her down and stepped back, but he let his hands linger on her waist, and she kept hers on his shoulders. "We should do this again," he said.

Pidge nodded. "Yeah, for sure. And we're gonna meet to work on our class next weekend, right?"

His heart lightened at her eager tone. "Definitely. We can work out the details by text, or on Thursday."

She smiled brightly. "Sounds great."

They were silent for a moment; there was nothing else to say but goodbye, but he didn't want to let go of her yet, and the way her eyes held his, he got the feeling she didn't want to either. So he made a decision, and his heart beat a little faster as he pulled her close again and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

They stayed like that for a long beat, Hunk trying not to tremble, Pidge barely breathing and practically clinging to him. When he finally made himself pull back, she took a dramatic breath and looked at him with a sort of dazed smile. "I'll see you on Thursday," she said softly, and reached for her backpack.

"Yeah," he said, stepping back towards the car so he wouldn't be tempted do it again. "Have fun at the recital. Say hi to Shay for me." He knew as soon as it was out of his mouth that that was a terrible thing to say but by then it was too late, the mood had shattered.

Pidge's smile faltered. "I will." She shouldered her bag and turned to the house. "See you later."

He wanted so badly to rewind, just ten seconds -- but all he had was her retreating back and a new regret. "Bye."

 

Shay was already in her concert black when Pidge came in, and looked up from the work she had spread on the kitchen table and smiled. "Hey you! Had fun?"

Pidge seemed startled for a moment, distracted, but recovered quickly. "Only the best Science and Surplus fun."

"What did you get for Matt?"

Pidge laughed a little and set her backpack on the table. "All kinds of crap. The highlight is eclipse viewing glasses because I'm going to make him take me to view it this summer."

Shay raised her eyebrows. "There's an eclipse this summer?"

"Yeah, at the end of August. The path of totality goes through the southern part of Illinois so I can actually go see it."

"Sounds cool."

"Mm-hmm." Pidge kept looking down into her bag, seeming more lost in thought than searching, and Shay got the feeling that something had happened.

"What is it?"

Pidge looked up, startled again. "What is what?"

"You. This isn't your normal Science and Surplus face."

"Oh." Pidge looked down into her backpack again, then pulled out a chair and sat down with a sigh. "I don't know. Nothing. Just in a weird mood all of a sudden."

"Didn't you have a good time with Hunk?"

Pidge's expression got even more guarded. "Yeah, of course I did. We had fun at the store, and then he took me to lunch after."

A stab of longing hit Shay in the chest, and she struggled not to let it show. "Where did you go?"

"The Oscar's on Highway 100."

"Nice, what was the flavor?"

"Mint chip." Shay heard the disappointment in her voice; Pidge wasn't a fan of mint chip.

"Custard can't be what's bumming you out."

Pidge groaned and tipped her forehead all the way down to the table. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you."

Shay wasn't sure she wanted to know, but at the same time, she couldn't _not_ know. "Tell me."

Pidge sat up and rearranged her glasses on her nose, then crossed her arms and looked down at the table. "I just ... I feel like I'm getting mixed signals from him."

"Mixed signals?"

"Yeah. Like ... he's wonderful. He's _so_ wonderful, and he makes me feel like--" But she stopped there, like she couldn't put words to it.

Shay swallowed, nervous. She _could_ put words to it, had been doing it for months. She couldn't say she was really surprised that Pidge was feeling this way. "Like you're the only thing in the world he cares about?"

Pidge looked up at her, a sad smile on her lips. "Yeah."

Shay gave a curt nod and silently begged herself not to feel. "But?"

"But. But then he ... he backs off suddenly, or ... or he asks me to say hi to you."

It hit her like driving into a tumbleweed on the highway: Pidge thought he wasn't over her. Maybe he _actually_ wasn't over her, as much as he'd acted like it on Thursday night. But she'd seen how he danced with Pidge then, how happy both of them had looked. And she had heard about Valentine's Day from Lance, when they had apparently blues danced like they were about to get naked. It had made her heart hurt to hear it, made her long for something she'd never even had with him. But it had at least reassured her to think he was moving on, that he wasn't stuck on her. That she wasn't the cause of him being unhappy.

Maybe what was really getting Pidge was Hunk's overthinking and foot-in-mouth issues that happened when his emotions got the better of him. It had been a thing early in their relationship, when it was new and shiny and he got flustered -- was this what was happening with Pidge?

It had to be. It was the only thing that both made sense, and wasn't horribly sad.

"To be honest, Pidge, I think you're just seeing him fall victim to his own awkwardness."

She made a face. "Why would he be awkward? We've been friends for years."

"Are you serious? It's because he likes you."

"Yeah, we're friends."

"Hunk _likes_ you," Shay said meaningfully. "I think you two could be more than friends. I think he'd like that, and I think that's why you're getting weird from him right now."

Pidge shook her head and frowned. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it?"

"Like, honestly, Shay, what could he possibly see in me, especially in comparison to you?"

She blinked, confused. "What do you mean, in comparison to me?"

Pidge gestured helplessly at her roommate. "I mean, just look at you. You're this -- pre-Raphaelite goddess. And I'm a goblin who doesn't shave and forgot deodorant this morning."

Something that might have been horror flooded through Shay. "Is that really how you see yourself?"

"Aren't I?"

"You're--" Shay started strong, but cut herself off, and had to think for a moment. "You've got a Berkeley feminist kind of look."

"Your hesitation speaks volumes."

"You're not the same person as me," Shay said, earnestly now. "And that's the whole point. The last thing Hunk wants right now is to replace me. He needs a friend, and nobody's closer to him than you are."

"What about Lance and Keith?"

"Well, okay. But trust me when I say he's into you, right? He took you out today."

"He has a car and likes disembodied electronics components."

"He bought you lunch. At Oscar's, which is his favorite."

"He has a salary. And he takes everybody to Oscar's when he gets half a chance, they have the best custard."

"He likes you _,_ Pidge. You don't have to necessarily believe me, but at least try to be open to it? Don't shut him out when he does awkward things, that's not good for either of you."

Pidge sighed. She looked like she wanted to argue, which gratified Shay in a selfish way; Pidge obviously liked Hunk a lot, but she didn't want to have him while he was rebounding from their relationship. Which was incredibly sweet, but at the same time, Shay didn't like to see her two friends dancing around each other like this, when they were obviously best dancing together. She was willing to put her own feelings aside for that, even if it wasn't going to be easy.

Shay leaned forward, across her papers on the table. "You know what he said after I told him about my sister's wedding, that I can't go to Lindyfest? After he said that sucks, he immediately asked if I thought you would do the class with him, and then we talked about you for ten minutes."

"You didn't really."

"We did. I watched the clock. He _likes_ you, Pidgey."

"We're just friends, it's not like that."

"Not now, but it could be. You mean so much to him, and I can tell you care about him too."

"He's my best friend, Shay. I'm not -- it's not romantic."

Shay raised her eyebrows, and Pidge shrank back, like she was uncomfortable being scrutinized. As though by simply looking at her, Shay would be able to see into her heart and know for certain that she was right. She certainly wished she could, it would make all of this easier if any of them just _knew._

"I really just want you and him to be happy," Shay said. "Even if it's not together, though I think maybe you could be."

"Oooo-kay," Pidge said, standing up. "We don't need to go through all of that again, I gotcha."

"All right, I've made my point."

"What time are we leaving for the recital?"

Shay glanced at her watch. "It starts at four, and I have to be there at three, so two-thirty."

Pidge checked the time on the microwave. "All right, a couple hours. I'm going to work on homework until then. I don't have to dress up for this, do I?"

Shay grinned at her. "No, silly. Only performers. Go do your homework."

Pidge rolled her eyes, but there was a little smile on her lips as she picked up her backpack and headed into her bedroom. Shay turned reluctantly back to her own work, and willed herself not to fixate on the fact that Pidge and Hunk were obviously falling for each other.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [You've Got A Friend In Me by Randy Newman](https://play.spotify.com/track/2stkLJ0JNcXkIRDNF3ld6c)
> 
> Note for non-Milwaukeeans: [American Science & Surplus](https://www.sciplus.com/OurStores) is the happiest place on earth. Scroll down to the Milwaukee store and click on "store photos" to see what it looks like inside. I have personally been hit with an Airzooka blast while browsing and they've had those WWII latrines in stock for like ten years at least.
> 
> Custard is frozen custard, which is like ice cream but richer because it's made with egg yolks.


	6. But Not For Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [But Not For Me by Red Garland](https://play.spotify.com/track/6s5Ush55ZistjzNAbbIpoL)

_Although I can't dismiss  
_ _The memory of his kiss..._

 

Saturday morning found Pidge feeling like she was completely done with winter, so she texted Hunk to change their plan slightly -- rather than him picking her up at her place, she would walk the two miles down to the Colectivo on the lakefront, and he would meet her there.

The weather wound up being colder than she wanted, and stepping into the warm and fragrant cafe was like heaven. They were packed, of course, like they always were on Saturday afternoons, but she didn't have to wait long for her coffee. She looked around and didn't see Hunk, but a table on the upper level was just clearing out, so she climbed up and snagged it.

She drank her coffee slowly, letting it warm her fingers while she waited. When Hunk arrived he was easy to spot in his bright yellow winter coat, and she got out her phone to text him. _Look up._

He pulled the phone out of his pocket, then turned around, searching for a few moments until he found her. A grin split his face, and he waved; Pidge grinned back, waving just her fingers until he turned to the counter to order his coffee.

She finished what was in her cup and traipsed down the stairs, meeting him just as he was turning away from the counter with his order.

"All set?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You ready to go already?"

"I've been here a while and I'm kind of over it."

"Oh. Well, I was hoping to sit down and actually drink my coffee instead of just bouncing immediately."

"Oh. Um." She looked around. "How about outside?"

There were a handful of people out on the patio, lounging on the Mendota Terrace tables and chairs; Hunk nodded. "Sure. It's a little chilly but it's nice enough to be outside for a little bit."

He led the way, and they took a table close to the building that was slightly sheltered from the wind. After a minute of enjoying his coffee while Pidge quietly enjoyed his company, Hunk spoke. "So, how were your classes this week? I didn't get a chance to ask you the other night."

They had danced together quite a few times on Thursday, but hadn't really talked. "Yeah, good. I'm making good progress on my capstone, which is a relief."

"A relief? Did you think you weren't?"

"I mean, not rationally. But I get a little moment of panic every time I look at a calendar and see how few weeks are left in the semester."

He nodded. "Yeah, gotcha. And what about your Hebrew class, learning anything interesting yet?"

She sighed and leaned on the table. "No, lots of the same still. We got a new vocab list of food words this week, but it's mostly stuff I already knew."

"That's too bad."

"Oh, but I did learn something accidentally yesterday." She turned to look at him, still leaning on her arm, and he raised his eyebrows with interest.

"You learned something accidentally?"

"Yeah, while I was watching _The West Wing_ last night."

"I've never seen it. I know of it, though. Did you learn something about politics?"

"Actually no, I found out I understand Yiddish."

He grinned behind his cup and suppressed a giggle. "You found out?"

"Yeah, like I said, accidentally."

"You didn't already know it? I thought maybe your family spoke it."

Pidge sighed. "No. The story is long and sad and predictable, but my Jewish great-grandparents wanted their kids to assimilate, so my grandparents and my mom didn't speak it at home, and so neither did I." She sat up, hoping that changing her posture would ease her perpetual bitterness about the language dying and her disconnect with her heritage. "But, anyway, you know I learned German in high school."

"Right. You're practically fluent."

"I'm not, but yeah. So I'm sure that's why this happened. Anyway, I was watching _The West Wing_ , and it was a flashback scene where they were speaking Yiddish. And a minute into the scene I suddenly said to myself, hey, that subtitle is slightly wrong, that's not what he said. And that's how I realized I understand Yiddish."

Hunk laughed, which made his face light up like the sun. Pidge's heart stopped for a second, gazing at him, and suddenly she felt down to her core what Shay had been saying to her last weekend: she was into him. She was completely, hopelessly into him.

But he wasn't over Shay.

This was bad.

"That story is so you," he said, catching his breath.

"Thanks." She felt like the word came out sounding strangled.

"Okay, let's go," he said, pushing his chair back and standing up. "I'm caffeinated so I'm ready to dance."

 

Hunk's place was practically spitting distance from the Brewers stadium, which had been a requirement of Lance's when they originally picked it out, and was a big factor in Keith moving in there rather than him and Lance finding a place of their own. It was a moderately-sized house, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a big living room with a slightly-battered hardwood floor that they could use for small dance parties when they pushed the furniture aside and rolled up the carpet.

The living room was already set up when they got there, and Pidge kicked off her street shoes by the front door. "What's this mirror doing here?"

"Oh, that, yeah." A full-length mirror was set up near the front windows. "Lance and Keith were practicing some things last night. You know they're entering the open Strictly at Lindyfest?"

"I didn't, but I'm not surprised. They want to be sure they look good, huh?"

"Yeah. Lance has been trying to get Keith to have a little more musicality. He's precise but he can be pretty stiff, so Lance had them both practicing isolations and stuff."

"Ooh, tough stuff. Lance sure is good at them though." She positioned herself in front of the mirror, and Hunk slid in a few steps behind her.

"His hips are like a separate being," Hunk agreed. "When he focuses on it, it's almost uncanny."

Pidge put her hands on her hips and tried a chest isolation first: left-right, left-right, forward-back, around in a circle. The muscles in her shoulders and core seemed confused, and she saw her hips shifting although they weren't supposed to. She let her hands drop and tried just circling her shoulders, but her leg muscles kept tensing too much, trying to get in on the action.

"Ugh," she whined. "My isolations suck and I can't shimmy to save my life."

"Your shimmies are fine."

She shook her shoulders, letting her arms flop. Very un-graceful. "Not compared to Shay's they're not. Come on, you know she's got the world's best butt shimmy, plus all of her isolations are flawless, and the way she does body rolls?" Pidge shook her head. "And she's so musical. I'm still a marching band kid, my best move is an about-haste with a bari sax on my neck."

Hunk looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Why are you like this?"

She lifted her eyes to his in the mirror, challenging. "Like what?"

"This!" He gestured at her, sort of desperate and helpless. "Always comparing yourself to her."

"I --" she began, but stopped, and after a moment snapped her mouth shut. She _did_ always do this, why did she always do this? "Shay's a great dancer. She's beautiful."

Hunk looked sad. "I mean, she is, but I don't know why you feel like you have to be like her."

 _Because you love her,_ Pidge's mind whispered. She shook her head. "She's my best friend."

"You're different people. Nobody wants you to be the same. You've got things she doesn't, and not just the saxophone thing. You _are_ musical."

Pidge sighed and looked at herself in the mirror again; she really wanted to get off the touchy-feely subject. "I dunno, I just wish I had her hips."

"They're just wide, is all. You could get the same effect with a skirt, I bet."

Pidge frowned. He was right, a little fluttery skirt would really emphasize what little movements she could do with her hips. But she hadn't owned a skirt since high school; she'd become very committed to the androgynous sporty look in college. She hadn't felt _pretty_ in years and suddenly now she realized she _wanted to_ and it was a very foreign sensation.

Hunk stepped closer. "You okay?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, yeah, I'm cool." But her heart thumped kind of weirdly; did she want to be pretty because she thought Hunk would like it?

He didn't look convinced. "I was thinking we'd mostly practice closed position and connection today, really work on the drag aspect. You can practice isolations by just following me."

Pidge's heart did the weird thing again, and she felt her pulse for a moment in parts of her body that she normally didn't. "Yeah, that sounds grea-- um, good."

He raised his eyebrows and pressed his lips together, and she looked away, blushing. _Totally smooth, Pidge, not desperately horny at all. Maybe I can use the excuse that I'm ovulating...? No wait that's a lot worse, never tell him that._

"So, um ... let's get started I guess."

"Yeah, sure." The couch was pushed up against the window, and she perched on it to put her dancing shoes on, trying desperately to calm herself before she got physical with Hunk.

He put on some music softly, a playlist of slow things. This was going to make the mood even more difficult to bear but it was also really the only way to make the dancing thing work. She stood up and joined him in the middle of the living room.

Hunk put his right hand on her back, and she shrugged to set her left arm atop his. And then his touch urged her closer; she couldn't let go enough to really give in, to completely follow his lead. She kept her shoulders and core flexed, touching him but only because she needed to in order to follow him. _If she were to let him totally take her, she'd be a goner. It would be like Valentine's Day again, but this time they were alone, and who knew what would happen then._

"You're tense," he murmured, taking her free hand.

"Am not." It was a blatant lie. He didn't call her on it, simply shifted himself to be closer to her height.

"Put some of your weight on me."

His knee was between her thighs. Of course it was, that's how you do drag blues. But _god,_ how had she let herself say yes to doing something so fundamentally sexy with him? That dance on Valentine's Day should have warned her off, but all it had done was make her realize she wanted him.

He gave a frustrated sigh and stood up straight, dropping his arms. "Pidge, what's going on with you?"

She still had her left arm up on his shoulder, and she snatched it down, took a step back. "Nothing's going on with me."

He looked pained. "Why are you lying to me?"

Rumbled. She felt herself blushing, hot and prickly from her chest all the way up to her scalp. "I'm just ... I'm nervous." That wasn't a lie, even if it wasn't an explanation. It didn't help that she couldn't look at him, though.

He hesitated for a second. "About the class?"

She nodded. _Among other things_.

"You're going to be great," Hunk said gently, reaching out and taking her hand. "I knew that when I asked you to teach with me. I only want to practice so that we're perfect."

She glanced up for a moment. "I know. I know, it's just ... the Shay thing."

She felt him tense. "There isn't a Shay thing."

 _But you still love her._ "Isn't there?"

"No, there isn't." He held her hand a little tighter. "Not any more; it's over. I'm moving on. I found a new partner."

For a breathless moment Pidge thought that he wasn't just talking about the dancing, that he'd cottoned on to her subtext and was actually talking about romance. "There are so many other girls you could have asked."

"Well, maybe." He let go of her fingers, leaving them cold, and put his hands in his pockets. "I mean, I did think about asking Jen or Amy, they're both good follows, and Amy especially really knows her way around solo blues."

He meant dancing. Amy and Shay like to practice hip isolations together; it was Amy who taught Shay those amazing belly dancing moves. Pidge's throat felt tight, and she crossed her arms across her chest. "Why didn't you?"

"She's not you. She's good, but you're fantastic, and I know you better than anyone."

 _Anyone but Shay. Don't say that._ "I don't know if I'm fantastic."

"Hah. Don't be modest, Pidge, it doesn't suit you."

"What?"

She looked up at him; he was smiling awkwardly down at his toes, and she might have been imagining it but his cheeks were a little bit pink. "I think if _anyone_ we know ever had doubts about you being fantastic, that dance we had on Valentine's Day completely destroyed them."

"Valentine's Day?" She didn't know why she phrased it like a question. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

"That blues. That _blues,_ man. Nobody's ever danced with me like that before. You were ... incredible. Literally. Like sometimes I don't believe it really happened, I feel like I dreamed it." He shook his head and looked up at her, vulnerability in his deep brown eyes. "But it was real. You're ... you're the best follow I've ever danced with, when you only let yourself connect with me."

She tried to swallow, but found her mouth dry. "Sometimes it's hard to let go."

"Please keep trying. If we can unpack that, we can teach it."

"You can't teach chemistry." _Oh fuck._ Her face burned immediately, and she was sure she heard his breath catch in his chest.

"Uh ... maybe not. But we can try?"

"Sure?"

"And ... even if we don't manage it...." He coughed, shrugged, stood up straight. "Even if we can't teach it, at least we can demonstrate it. And I get to keep having the best dances of my life."

Something in Pidge's heart opened up -- _the best dances of his life._ More than anything, she wanted to give him that. Even if it meant making herself vulnerable, she'd do it for him. Even if it never became more, even if he didn't feel the same. She'd embrace the way she felt, let him know it with her dancing. "Okay." She nodded, convincing herself as much as she was telling him. "I can't promise how good I'll be, but ... I'll let myself connect with you."

He smiled, and it was hesitant and sweet, and and he was even more beautiful than he had been back at Colectivo. He held out his hand, and her heart thundered as she took it. The song ended -- the music had been playing the whole time, a melancholy soundtrack to her inner turmoil -- and a new song began, a little quicker but plenty smooth.

The dancing was suddenly much easier, with that explicit permission to express how she felt. She relished his touch, devoted herself to the subtle signals of his body, and even let herself talk about them, tell him what he was doing, how she was responding. And when she did that, he did them even more -- he became clearer, surer, bolder. It was brain-meltingly sexy.

After a while they stopped talking and just let the music play, slipped into a trance of simply dancing together -- not speaking, not analyzing, merely moving as one. The tone of the music shifted when a track from the _Hamilton Mixtape_ came on, a song that was blatantly sexual in a way that the vintage blues really wasn't. Pidge tightened her arm around Hunk's shoulder, and she felt him bend his head down, felt his breath puff on her neck.

Something had shifted within her, during this time they'd been together. The worry about him not being over Shay suddenly seemed unimportant, concerns about her coming on too strong and making him feel awkward were ridiculous. He'd told her he liked it when she let herself go with him. He had picked her over all their other friends.

So Pidge decided she wasn't going to hold back any more. She knew she liked him, and even if he wasn't into her in the same way, he clearly wasn't put off by it. And although she wasn't prepared to actually try to pursue him, she would let things between them go wherever they went, and she would enjoy the hell out of the time she got to spend with him.

 

They were interrupted when Lance and Keith came home, and realized they'd been dancing for more than an hour. Hunk didn't seem tired at all, even though drag blues was fairly physically demanding on the lead; Pidge had been intimately aware of his unwavering strength the whole time they were moving together, and she missed it when he released her.

She stayed through the afternoon, hanging out with the guys, and when evening came around she helped Hunk prepare dinner. Afterwards he packed her a container of leftovers before he drove her home.

He put the car in neutral and pulled the parking brake when he pulled up in front of her house, and she thought maybe he was going to get out and hug her again, but he didn't turn off the engine, just shifted in his seat to face her. She froze with her hand halfway to the door handle.

Hunk tipped his head sideways, towards the seat, and smiled gently. "Thanks for coming today. You were great."

She grinned back, and felt herself blushing. The sun was low in the western sky and the shadows were long, so she hoped he couldn't see it, hoped he wouldn't know quite how desperately she had loved the afternoon. "Thanks. I'm feeling a lot better about the class now."

He reached out and put his big warm hand on her shoulder. "Want to do this again next weekend?"

"Sure." She felt like the air had gone out of the car. He was touching her; was he going to kiss her again?

But he didn't lean in, he just squeezed her shoulder briefly and then let go. "Okay, well, have a good night. See you on Thursday?"

"Yeah, definitely." She opened the door and stepped out before she could do something overly forward, and they said their goodbyes and he drove away.

And then she remembered she had a mountain of homework to do, and she'd wasted an entire Saturday with him instead of doing math. But she couldn't possibly regret it, could she? Things had changed for her -- maybe only a tiny bit, but an important tiny bit.

She wished she didn't have to wait until Thursday to see him again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other songs in this chapter:  
> [But Not For Me by Ella Fitzgerald](https://play.spotify.com/track/1mBeXxVhMrUO3A7PbPLHio)  
> [Say Yes To This by Jill Scott](https://play.spotify.com/track/6cBwryv6XVRzGooXa1FjnM)
> 
> Special note for my fellow Chicagoans: [Traffic Jam Swing](http://trafficjamswing.com/) holds a monthly dance in Ravenswood, and I'm going to the one on March 18th if you want to come dance with me!


	7. I'm Beginning To See The Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I'm Beginning To See The Light by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington](https://play.spotify.com/track/0urUUOdIwSZkfcbrB0dPl3)

_I never cared much for moonlit skies_  
_I never winked back at fireflies_  
_But now that the stars are in your eyes  
_ _I'm beginning to see the light_

  

Spring in Milwaukee came on as slowly as it always did, the chilly days of March warming gradually in fits and starts, eventually giving way to the marginally less chilly days of April, and finally welcoming a few that were properly warm and brought with them the green-brown smell of the world coming back to life.

Hunk and Pidge saw a lot of each other, at Thursday night social dances, and then every Saturday afternoon at Hunk's house. Those afternoons usually drifted into evening and ended with Pidge bringing home a container of leftovers to share with Shay, who made no secret of how pleased she was to be eating Hunk's cooking again. He was miles better than either her or Pidge, to say nothing of the on-campus options.

By the second Saturday in April, Pidge had gotten her bike all tuned up again after it spent the winter in storage, so she took the paths down to Hunk's in the afternoon rather than having him come and get her. When she arrived she looked delighted, slightly flushed from the wind and exertion, and he carried the bike up the steps and into the house so she didn't have to worry about it walking away.

She dropped her backpack next to the door, then pulled off her helmet and ruffled her hair. "It's so gorgeous outside now that the snow's finally gone."

"I know, I went out frolfing with the guys this morning. It's fantastic."

"Where are they, anyway?"

"They went on a lunch date, should be back pretty soon if they didn't drink too much."

Pidge smiled. "If?"

He chuckled. "Hey, sit down, I want to show you something."

"Okay." She flopped onto the couch and watched as he went into the kitchen, then came back with a large envelope and sat carefully beside her.

"I didn't want to tell you anything until I knew for sure, but ... I know for sure." He pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope and handed it to her, letting his thumb linger over the violet letterhead that he knew she would recognize instantly.  "This came in yesterday's mail."

"Is that -- holy shit."

"Yeah."

Pidge stared at the paper, eyes scanning so fast he thought for sure she couldn't actually be reading, and she looked a little like she was about to cry. "Is this for real? You're going to Northwestern too?"

"Yeah. It's official."

"Oh my god." She pressed her lips together, then looked up at him with wet eyes. "Fuck, I'm actually speechless. I can't tell you how relieved I am."

"Relieved?"

"Ugh! Hah." She ducked her head, wiped her eyes and sniffed. "Shit, I really said that."

"You really did."

"What I mean is ... I've been dreading leaving here. Leaving Milwaukee and everyone. Leaving you. And ... to not have to be alone, to not have to leave you, is ... yeah."

He smiled at her, big and soft and reassuring. "I'm really glad I get to go with you."

She choked on a little sob and grabbed his hand. "We're gonna go together."

"We are."

She looked back down at the paper, then shook her head. "This is so embarrassing, I'm too teary to read. What program are you in?"

"MS Materials Science Engineering."

"That's a two year program?"

"Yeah, just two, with a little thesis at the end."

"Hah, so you'll be done before I am for sure. Did you get a TA position?"

"I did, amazingly, which comes with a tuition waiver. They won't pay me anything like what the lawnmower people are doing, but I won't have to work another job."

"God, I'm so proud of you." She threw her arms around his neck, and he embraced her immediately. They held on for a long time, longer than he might normally have felt was right, but this was so comfortable, so perfect holding her here and knowing that not only did he not have to give her up, but that she was just as happy as he was about it. She trembled, and he held her tighter, reveling in the new reality that he would get to keep doing this with her. They didn't have to be apart.

Eventually she sniffed and withdrew, and he let her go, blinking the tears out of his own eyes. She pulled her glasses off. "Sorry, salt splatters bug the fuck out of me."

"That's fine."

She started trying to polish them with the edge of her t-shirt, but after a few moments began losing her composure, and couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks, the hiccups that shook her whole body. Hunk's heart was in his throat; he didn't know what to do. "Pidge...?"

She shook her head with a grimace, but she didn't stop crying. "God, I'm so sorry, just ... hold me or something."

He put his arms around her again, and she tucked her head into his chest and sobbed into his shirt while she clutched at his sides with shaking hands. Hunk held her as tightly as he could, pressing his cheek to the top of her head, wishing that it was possible to wrap her up and make himself _hers_ so she'd never be alone again.

They stayed like that for quite some time, even after she had stopped crying, neither of them willing to give up even an inch. Hunk felt like, now that he knew he and Pidge could be together, he couldn't bear to be apart from her even the tiniest bit. Holding her like this was the most _right_ thing he'd felt in a very long time.

And that said something, didn't it? This intimacy with Pidge was so natural, he almost wondered where it had been these past four years. And now that he had it, he wanted it, he wanted _her._ Everything they'd been doing recently, the hanging out, the _unbelievable_ dancing, all the hours talking and laughing and just being close -- in this moment it came together for him. Pidge was so much more than just a friend, or even a best friend. He'd been calling her his partner in a dancing sense for weeks, but suddenly, the afternoon's fresh perspective made him think it was never _just_ in a dancing sense. Or at least, he didn't want it to be. Maybe they could be more.

Maybe they already were.

They both started when the screen door swung open, and then Lance came in, with Keith close behind. "Hey, Hunk," Lance said.

"Hey," Hunk said automatically. Pidge didn't say anything, but she sat back from him, looking wrung out as she put her still-dirty glasses back on her face.

Keith stopped suddenly, grabbed Lance's elbow, and Lance did a double-take. "Oh, Pidge! I didn't realize that was you."

She shrugged like it took a lot of effort. "'S me."

Lance got a concerned look on his face, and glanced quickly between Hunk and Pidge before Keith gave him a little shove. "We'll leave you guys to ... to whatever you were doing."

"Yeah," Lance agreed, and they both hurried up the stairs.

Pidge sighed, and glanced up at Hunk for the briefest of seconds before she looked back down at her lap. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Please, really, don't be sorry for that. I don't--" He stopped, his heart fluttering, and he had to take a few breaths to center himself. "I can't tell you what it means to me, to see you so happy about this."

She shook her head, but the corner of her mouth turned up. "I'm still sorry for crying all over you. I'm just ... a little shocked. I didn't even know you were applying to grad school and suddenly here we are, going together."

He huffed a wry laugh. "I wanted to surprise you."

"You sure as shit managed it."

"If I'd known you were upset about leaving I would have told you sooner."

She glanced up with a little smile. "You're so sweet."

"I hate seeing you hurting, Pidge. I wish I had known."

"It's really okay. I did actually enjoy the surprise, contrary to appearances."

He was still upset with himself for making her cry. He sighed and tried to put it behind him. "If we're going to dance we should probably get to it, move the furniture."

"I don't --" she started, then stopped and swallowed. "I don't think I'm up for dancing right now. I'm kind of ... spent."

"That's okay." He was feeling it too; outpourings of emotion like that were exhausting. As were pradigm-shifting realizations about relationships, apparently. Plus, he realized, she had just biked seven miles. "We can watch some TV or something."

"I'm up for that. What've you got, Netflix?"

"Yeah." He got up to turn things on. "Anything you've been wanting to see?"

"Yeah, actually, there's this animated show that's about, like, a horse who's a man who's an actor? Shay is freaked out by the animation so I haven't watched it yet."

"I think I know the one you mean, Netflix keeps suggesting it to me." He came back to the couch and pulled out his phone to queue it up. "Should we give it a shot?"

"Hell to the yeah, let's Bojack it up."

He glanced at her while it was loading; her face was still a little bit puffy-looking from the crying, but she looked quietly happy, and after he settled back into the couch she pulled her feet up and set them on the side of his thigh while she leaned on the armrest. "Comfy?" he said, trying to sound sarcastic.

She glanced at him, eyebrows raised and a smirk on her lips. "I could be _more_ comfy if Lance finished that couch blanket he's crocheting."

He paused the show before it could get past the Netflix card. "Let me go grab something."

"No, it's fine--" she started to protest, but he gave her a smile as he got up, and ran upstairs to grab the second blanket off his bed. When he got back down Pidge was sitting with her legs crossed up on the cushions.

"Did you get that off your bed?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't have to."

He shrugged. "I wanted to." He sat down and arranged the blanket so they were both covered, and Pidge scooted right up against his side, very nearly cuddling him. He shifted up against her, and started the show.

He actually enjoyed it a lot more than he thought he would. Part of his initial uncertainty had come from reviews that mentioned its vulgarity, but it didn't seem to do that for shock value. Not much, anyway, and when it did it was shocks that seemed to have an actual meaning under the surface. The show had unexpected depth and when the first episode ended he was desperate to know what bad decisions would come next.

"Another!" Pidge demanded; he smiled at her and clicked the button.

They finally stopped after episode three, though it would have been completely easy to just binge the whole first season with Pidge laughing by his side.

"So," Pidge said, turning towards him and tucking her toes under his thigh. "Question."

Her change of posture unfortunately made him have to move his arm, which he'd had on the back of the couch, not-quite-touching her shoulders. "Yeah?"

"So, this week is Passover, and my family is having our seder next Saturday. Do you want to come?"

"Oh, wow, yeah, I'd love to." He hesitated. "I mean, if it would be okay with your family if you brought a guest."

She looked up at him with a grin and folded her arms on her knees. "Better than okay. Since we have to wait until Saturday for Matt to make it up from Chicago, Mom practically begged us to bring guests. Letting one tradition slide, beefing up another."

"It's traditional to have guests?"

"Totally. Plus, since you're not Jewish, you can play the kids' role and ask a ton of questions. Grandma will love it."

Hunk smiled and resisted putting his arm around her. "I can definitely do that. I'll just turn off the filter."

She laughed. "Awesomesauce. I like you without the filter."

_Pidge liked him._ "Is there anything I should bring? Food, or, like, one of those hats?"

"A kippah? No, nobody expects you to do that, it's just dinner with my family. And Mom will handle all the food, though I'm sure she'd be glad for a helping hand in the kitchen. Me and Matt are pretty crappy at that part."

He turned towards her, draping his elbow over the back of the couch. "You're a great kitchen helper."

"Maybe for you. Not at home."

"What about background knowledge? Should I study up at all?"

"I don't think you need to. You know the basic gist of the Passover story, right?"

"Sure, I've seen _The Prince of Egypt_ like a hundred times."

She laughed, and that word _beautiful_ came into his mind again. "I love that movie," she said. "When me and Matt were kids we had it memorized."

"I have it on DVD, do you want to watch it?" Hunk was feeling like wasting the afternoon watching TV with Pidge was the best idea he'd ever had.

But she didn't look convinced. "What time is it?"

He craned his neck to look into the kitchen at the display on the microwave. "A little after four."

She leaned forward and squinted. "You can seriously read that from here?"

"Yeah?"

"Man." She sat back, blinking. "I bet I need a new prescription. It's been a few years."

Hunk didn't know the first thing about glasses, except for what he'd learned in linear optics. "So what do you think about the movie?"

Pidge sighed. "I do want to watch it, just not _right_ now. Maybe a bit later." She hesitated. "I mean, if it's all right if I stay for a while. I kind of brought my homework so I could hang out longer."

She'd never brought her homework along before. In previous weeks, when it would get late she would say that she had to get home because she had work to do -- he'd never thought that it might have been an excuse until now, but even as he had the thought he wasn't convinced it was true. She'd always seemed genuinely disappointed when she had to leave, and she'd never once in their entire friendship been anything but totally honest with him.

"You're always welcome here," he said, and tried to put the weight of his feeling behind his words. "Stay as long as you want."

He could see her relaxing as the smile spread across her face. "Thanks. You won't mind if I'm not social for a while?"

Hunk shrugged. "I just like having you here."

She didn't say anything, just smiled even broader and looked a little bashful. And then she put her legs down, shifted her weight and swayed towards him -- for a breathless second he thought she was coming in for a kiss, but she was just getting her feet onto the floor. His heart pounded as he watched her walk over to her backpack and pick it up. "Is it okay if I take over the couch?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"Cool." She dropped the bag on the cushion; it did seem heavier than what she usually brought over.

Hunk looked down at his knees, smoothed his palms down his thighs. "Are you going to stay for dinner?"

She already had the textbook out -- Hebrew. "Sure. I love your cooking."

"We're having chili. I already started the crock pot, and Keith is going to make cornbread later."

"Cool, cool."

He'd lost her attention to the book. It stung a little, even though he didn't want it to; she had work to do, and he didn't have any claim to her time.

He got up, and retrieved his computer from his desk in the corner. This was as good a time as any to work on his actual curriculum for the class, and he should really put in some work on that today since they weren't dancing.

It was an hour later when Lance and Keith came down, lured by the smell of the chili, and Keith put his cornbread together quickly before Lance suggested they have a dance party, since they were an even number. Lance and Hunk moved the couch with Pidge on it, at which she rolled her eyes but did pack up her homework.

Lance put on one of Coran's shared playlists and grabbed Hunk's hand. "Okay, big guy, today's the day you learn to follow."

Hunk raised his eyebrows. "Really."

"It's good for you," Pidge said; she had Keith in closed position. He was a good partner for her, Hunk reflected; Keith was only a few inches taller, not towering over her like he did, so it wasn't too awkward for her to lead.

"Come on," Lance said, "it's me. I wanna teach you."

Hunk sighed -- if there was anyone that he'd let force him into following, it was definitely Lance. Lance had gotten him to do all sorts of crazy things that he never actually regretted, chief among them learning how to Lindy hop. "Yeah, all right."

Lance's face lit up. "Excellent. So, lesson one is the basic."

Pidge snickered, and opened Keith into a swing-out. Hunk tried to ignore her and think about his feet, while also paying attention to the frankly chaotic signals he was getting from Lance's hands. It wasn't easy, but he'd said he would.

They danced until the timer went for the cornbread, and then took their bowls to the couch -- now restored to its proper place -- and put on _The Prince of Egypt_. Keith had apparently never seen it, and was absolutely delighted. He kept gushing over the animation, and didn't seem to mind much that the other three all sang along with it.

Hunk took the dishes into the kitchen after "All I Ever Wanted", and when he got back Pidge had draped herself across his spot.

He poked her shoulder. "Keeping it warm for me?"

She twisted to look up at him. "Stole it."

"Right, of course." He took her by the shoulders and lifted her out of the way, then slipped in with his arm around her back. She grumbled, but then rearranged herself so she was leaning against him.

"Feet," Keith whined, trying to push them away, but he gave up when Pidge steadfastly refused to budge. Lance shot a fond smile at Keith from his safe location -- in his chair by the light with his crochet project in his lap -- and then met Hunk's eyes.

Hunk had known his roommate long enough to know exactly what he was silently saying, but even with Pidge pressed against his side he wasn't exactly ready to hear it. This whatever-it-was with Pidge was going to stay unnamed, for tonight at least. They were happy, and they were comfortable, and today he'd finally told her that there would be a lot more tomorrows for them to find out exactly what they were to each other.

When the credits finally rolled and the 1998 pop covers of the songs began, Pidge stretched and sat up. "I guess I need to get home."

Hunk looked over at the front window. "It got dark out."

"I'm not comfortable with you biking home," Lance declared.

Pidge turned to him, eyebrows raised. "What are you, my mom?"

Lance shrugged. "Somebody has to be."

"He's right, though," Hunk said. "Even on the paths it won't be very safe in the dark. But I'm sure I can fit your bike in the back of the wagon."

"If you're sure."

"Of course I am." _I'll do anything for you._

She smiled, small and private in a way that told him she heard his real meaning. "Okay."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommended listening (and watching): [The Prince of Egypt](https://play.spotify.com/album/5l7lj9nJbbTs0vCHhV0hVA)
> 
> Reminder to anyone in the Chicago area that [Traffic Jam Swing](http://trafficjamswing.com/) is happening this Saturday night in Ravenswood and I will be there! It's right next to the Montrose brown line, or there's always lots of street parking. I'll be the fat girl with a green paladin tattoo on my left wrist.
> 
> If you didn't see it yet, head back to the chapter 4 end note and check out the amazing art that Soop did for "the nearness of you"!!


	8. Shiny Stockings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Shiny Stockings by Les McCann](https://play.spotify.com/track/3sza7yU1SEZYERSp2ggonv)

_Those silk shiny stockings_  
_That I wear when I'm with you_  
_I wear 'cause you told me  
_ _That you dig that crazy hue_

 

 

Hunk's first Passover with the Holt family went exactly as well as Pidge had hoped. She wanted to say it had gone even better, but he was Hunk, so obviously it had been fair to expect the best, which is what he was. He had asked all the right questions, complimented Mom's cooking, spent a good while chatting with Grandma, and hadn't seemed at all fazed by the four glasses of wine, though she thought he might have been looking a bit flushed by the end of the evening -- for all his considerable size, he was something of a lightweight when it came to alcohol.

The only embarrassment had been when they first arrived, and Grandma asked in front of everyone how long they'd been dating and why had no one told her about Pidge's beautiful boyfriend. Pidge had tried to explain that they weren't together, that they were just friends, but she felt like it had come across as _protesting too much._ Luckily nobody else brought it up again, thought Grandma kept getting a thoughtful look on her face whenever she saw Pidge talking with Hunk. It made her wonder exactly how obvious she was being, and how oblivious Hunk was, if her whole family could tell she liked him. Maybe she would have to make the first move, if this thing between them was going to go anywhere.

Matt found out pretty quickly about Hunk's knowledge of _The Prince of Egypt,_ and the two of them easily roped the whole family into a sing-along with the soundtrack while Mom and Dad were finishing things in the kitchen. And Pidge didn't miss the look that Hunk gave her when he sang " _with my father, mother, brother_ " in his beautiful smooth voice, though she wasn't prepared to let herself feel what he seemed to be feeling. Even though, yes, tonight he was absolutely family, to take it any farther than that was putting the cart before the horse. Her heart needed a little more time.

It was fairly late when they took their leave for the drive back to the east side, and Pidge finally felt the wine when she got into the car, though Hunk had clearly sobered up. She dozed for most of the half-hour drive, and woke with a start when he shook her shoulder. "Wake up, sleepyhead, you're home."

The car was stopped in front of her house, and it was a bit of a struggle to drag herself into the moment. She grabbed for his hand, and he held it firmly for a second before he released her. "Have a nice night."

It took entirely too much self-control for her not to invite him to spend the night. "You too. Drive safe."

"I will. Good night."

She went inside with her father's words still echoing in her ears: next year in Evanston!

 

The sky was dark grey on Saturday morning, and the rain pattered sharply on the roof of Allura's extremely compact car. Pidge was in the middle of the back seat, squished between Shay on her left and Amy on her right. Jen had leveraged her now-obvious pregnancy to score the shotgun position; Pidge, being extremely small, never got the front seat because there was always room for her in the back, even between her two friends with wide hips. She put her feet up on the console in protest. Not like it was a long drive to the big Goodwill out by Timmerman, and she didn't hold it against Jen at all, but she perpetually harbored a reservoir of low-grade resentment about being tiny.

"So, Pidge," Allura said, looking at her in the rearview mirror. "You don't usually tag along for these, are you going to actually try something on?"

Pidge glanced at Shay, who was smiling broadly at her. "I think I will. Since it's Lindyfest."

"You've never dressed up for Lindyfest before," Amy said.

"It's different this year," Shay said. "She's teaching that class with Hunk."

Everyone in the car nodded, and Pidge got the distinct feeling that they understood every last bit of Shay's subtext: _Pidge likes him and wants to seduce him._

Which ... okay, it was true. She liked to think that wasn't the _only_ reason, but it would be stupid of her to deny that it was _a_ reason. And she really shouldn't be surprised that Shay had figured it out, because Shay was incredibly observant.

Over the past couple of weeks she'd been periodically going through her old photos on Facebook, and had found one album that stuck with her: senior year of high school her cousin Hannah had gotten married, and she and Matt (then a junior in college) had both dressed up particularly nice for the wedding. It was right after she'd chopped her hair off, but Mom had styled it really well, turning her frizz into actual curls that she hadn't realized were latent until the weight came off. She had worn a dress that was very trendy at the time -- now long gone because the trend hadn't lasted -- but she remembered loving how it moved when Matt danced with her. And now she wanted to recapture that feeling from when she had first learned to Lindy, that sensation of freedom in the movement, of elation at being able to express herself to music, of breathless energy. She wanted to feel that with Hunk.

Jen turned around. "Don't worry, we'll help you find something cute."

"Not too cute," Pidge protested. "Only a little cute. Maybe something that makes me look like I actually have hips."

Shay and Amy both laughed, the pear-shaped pair of them, and Pidge flexed her shoulders outward into their arms. "It's gotta fit those guns, too," Amy giggled.

"Damn straight!"

Allura smirked. "Sleeveless may be your best bet."

"I'm good with that. Probably reduces the schwitz factor too, and god knows I need all the help I can get on that."

"You're not so bad," Amy said.

"Mmm, no," Shay said, "she really is."

The Goodwill store was bright and clean, and not very busy when they arrived. Pidge's friends seemed to know exactly what they were looking for and made their way purposefully to a particular section, but Pidge hung back, taking it in. The other girls came here pretty regularly, every couple of months, and always right before Lindyfest to see if they could score something new to show off at the big Saturday night social dance there. Pidge had never felt that desire, but this year things were different.

Pidge took her time wandering through the rack of sweaters while she made her way back to where Allura and Amy were going through the dresses. Not that she was looking for a sweater at all, but the store was awfully full of stuff, and she needed a little time to acclimate to the overwhelming amount of it. She hadn't had enough coffee this morning to be able to process this all at once.

Shay suddenly appeared in a whirlwind of firey hair. "Pidge! Look at this!"

She thrust something at Pidge, who took it from her if only so that it would stop moving and her eyes could focus. "What?"

"It's a skirt! I mean, I know it's not what you're looking for, but I think it's your size and you could wear it over your leggings when you go dancing and it would be soooo cute."

"Wow, okay, take a breath." Shay stepped back and composed herself while Pidge examined the thing in her hands. It was, on further investigation, actually a skirt, despite how small it was -- if she wore it on her hipbones it would probably barely cover her butt. But it was full and soft with great drape, so it would move beautifully, and with her leggings underneath it wouldn't be indecent. Plus, it was little white polka dots on an alarming shade of lime green that Pidge frankly loved, and the tag said $2.99, which was hard to beat. And -- although she would never speak this aloud to anyone -- it was sort of exactly what she had pictured that day in front of the mirror at Hunk's house.

She looked up at Shay, who was now grinning and slightly bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Try it on? Please?"

"I didn't bring my leggings."

"Oh come on, it's just us girls. And it's not like I haven't seen your underwear before."

"Yeah, okay, true." She glanced over at Amy and Allura, who were going through the rack in Amy's size, then looked at the fitting room. "Okay, come on. I'll try it on."

"Eee!" Shay clapped and followed her.

The skirt was actually exactly Pidge's size, pleasingly stretchy, and not quite as short as she'd thought -- it did fully cover her butt when she was standing, though not when she sat, and when she did a swivel for the mirror it seemed to forget it was supposed to cover her body at all and just turned itself into a spectacle. Pidge loved it.

She stepped out of the fitting room to see that Jen had joined Shay, and they both looked delighted. "Spin around!" Shay said.

Pidge turned -- not quite as quickly as she might have, for the sake of decency, but the skirt still fluttered.

"That's so you," Jen said.

"Tell me you're going to get that," Shay begged. "You can see it from space."

Pidge laughed, feeling a little giddy. "Yeah, I'm definitely getting it. But I'm never going to wear it like this, I feel naked. I'm gonna put my jeans back on."

After Pidge had changed, she went back to the skirts with Shay and Jen, followed them as they flipped through. Neither of them was actually going to Lindyfest this year, but Shay was looking for something professional, and Jen's baby bump was starting to not fit her current wardrobe so she was hoping to find a couple of things for cheap.

Both of her friends had a couple of things in their arms when Amy and Allura came running over, Amy with something in her hands that she held up as soon as Pidge looked at her. She fell in love instantly, and couldn't do anything but stare at it as the girls crossed the last bit of distance to them.

"Pidge, oh my _god_ ," Allura said. "Tell me this isn't perfect."

It was a tank dress with a full skirt in a soft knit fabric, printed with deep-water shades of blue and purple with scattered tiny white dots. Pidge couldn't decide if it reminded her of outer space or of the ocean, but either way it was compelling in a way that no item of clothing had ever been to her before. She was absolutely dying to wear it and had no idea what to do with that sensation.

"If that isn't your size," Jen said softly, "I might cry."

"If it's too big I can take it in," Allura said. "I'm sure it's not too small."

Pidge took the hanger from Amy, feeling like she had forgotten how to blink. "It's ... really something."

"It's perfect," Shay breathed. "This here" -- she pointed at one of the big swirls -- "this is Hunk's favorite color, the one that's the most vibrant to him. And I think that's the purple that just looks blue to him, so really the whole thing is his favorite color, as far as he's concerned."

Amy and Jen made identical confused faces. "Is Hunk colorblind?" Amy asked.

Shay and Pidge both nodded. "Protanopia," Shay explained. "He can't see red."

"Hm." Allura got a thoughtful look. "That rules out red lipstick for you."

Pidge suppressed a shudder of horror, jolted back into feeling like herself. "Lipstick was never going to happen anyway."

Allura's thoughtful look deepened into something like a frown. "I can dream."

"I'm not actually a dress-up doll."

"You are right now. And if doing this is going to help you and Hunk finally stop pretending you're not interested in each other, I'll do whatever I have to."

"The dress looks like space," Jen said, sounding like she was trying to change the subject. "That's perfect for you, Pidge."

"I can't believe somebody gave this to Goodwill," Pidge said. "It looks new."

"Their loss is our score," Amy said. "Go try it on, I'm dying to see it on you."

Pidge handed Shay the green skirt, and turned towards the fitting rooms again. "Okay, if I'm going to be all of your project you should come see how it fits."

They followed behind her and waited while she changed. It fit perfectly -- this was ridiculous, two things fitting perfectly in the same trip? -- and without sparing more than a glance in the mirror she opened the door.

Her friends were gathered into a little knot when she stepped out, and they immediately disbanded and reformed around her, _ooh_ -ing and gasping. Pidge couldn't be bothered to make sense of what they were saying, but she enjoyed the sound of it, how it got louder when she twirled a little. Shay looked sort of like she might cry from happiness, and laughed a little when Pidge caught her eye.

"You look beautiful," she whispered. "This is incredible."

"I want to see it move," Amy said. "Dance with me?"

Wearing this dress made Pidge want to never stop dancing, and she hadn't even begun yet. "Yeah, definitely."

Amy took her hand to lead, counted off _five six seven eight_ and then did a couple of swing-outs before leaving her in open and swaying her hips to the beat in her mind with a sort of _go on?_ look on her face. Pidge took the hint, did several unnecessarily energetic swivels, and their audience gasped.

"It's perfect," Allura whispered. "Look how the skirt moves."

"Pidge, where did you learn to move your hips like that?" Shay said with something like awe in her voice. "Is that what you've been working on with Hunk?"

Pidge wasn't quite ready to admit to that, so she just smiled and tried to pretend she wasn't blushing while Amy led her through another couple of swing-outs and turns. She absolutely loved the way this dress felt, the way the skirt was just heavy enough to have a satisfying flop against her legs but light enough to really show off her dancing, and it hit just above the knee so it felt flirty but classy.

Amy danced with her a bit longer than she really needed to, but it was clear that everyone was having fun watching Pidge move in the dress, including the couple of other shoppers who happened upon them and watched in bemusement until they finally stopped.

Pidge put her real clothes back on, and carried around her skirt and dress for another half an hour until her friends had made their own selections. And then she handed over the money, and it was under ten dollars and these things were _hers_ and she was going to show them to Hunk and she hoped to glob that he would like them as much as she did.

It was still raining when they got back out to the car, and Jen mentioned she was hungry. Allura decreed it was lunchtime, so they stopped at Culver's on their way back towards downtown.

The smell of butterburgers and fries was all it took for Pidge to realize that she'd barely eaten so far that day, and she ordered what was probably too much food, but she knew that Shay would help her if it turned out to be absurd. All five of them crammed into a booth in the corner and fidgeted until their lunch came, then stuffed their faces, hungry in that particular way that shopping for secondhand clothing tends to induce.

It did turn out that a double burger and fries _and_ a shake was too much. But Shay came through in the clutch, as always, and started in on Pidge's fries just as she was realizing she might have overdone it a little. "You gonna eat these?"

"Not all of them. Help yourself."

"Cool." She dumped the ketchup into a lake in the middle of Pidge's now-burgerless basket and started arranging the potatoes in the way she liked to eat them. "So you're all set to seduce Hunk at Lindyfest now, aren't you?"

Pidge tipped her head to the side and picked up her shake. "I'm not the one who calls it _seducing,_ " she said with the straw between her teeth.

"But you're dressing up for him."

"Not _only_ for him, I've told you that. I got a feeling like I want to feel pretty."

"Yeah, okay." Shay deflated a little, and it seemed to Pidge like she was finally dropping her cheerful act. She seemed almost melancholy. "It would be okay if it was for him, though."

"It doesn't bother you?" Pidge murmured. "Me being interested in him?"

Shay shrugged. "I definitely can't blame you for feeling how I do."

Pidge's chest tightened at her use of the present tense, and she set her cup down. "Would it bother you if I actually dated him?"

Shay sighed, grabbed a fry and stuck it in her mouth while she thought. "I mean, on the one hand, yes, because I still have these confusing feelings for him. But on the other hand, I made my choice. That relationship didn't work out."

"Do you ever wonder if it might have?" Pidge asked, even though she was terrified to know the answer. "If maybe, like ... you guys were meant to be?"

Shay shook her head, and a long lock of hair fell forward over her shoulder. "I don't believe in meant to be. Not like that, anyway; I don't think God works like that. You can't expect miracles to just happen, like ... like fire from the sky or whatever. It's like the parable with the guy in the flood and the boat and stuff."

"Oh, right, that Bartlet one. Like, god provides opportunities, but you have to take them. You have to work for them, sometimes."

"Exactly. And the fact that I'm not willing to make it work with Hunk, and that he hasn't even _tried_ to get back together with me, means that we aren't meant to be." She dragged another fry through Pidge's ketchup. "Relationships are about choices, not predetermination."

Pidge picked up her shake again and chewed on the straw, half listening to the conversation that Jen and Allura were having about stockings with seams down the back, but mainly mulling over what Shay had said.

 _Relationships are about choices_.

She had definitely made a series of choices, these past few months, even if it was only clear in retrospect that they were actually a series, what they were leading to. She'd said yes without even thinking when Hunk asked her to teach, she reached out to him when he withdrew, she asked him on what she now knew had been a date to Science and Surplus. She went out of her way to be with him. Over and over she chose his company over pretty much anything else she could be doing, and it was so _easy_ that it didn't feel like a choice at all. Her heart wanted this, unequivocally, and clearly her mind had been in on it the whole time too.

Shay cleared her throat. "So he went out to Brookfield for Passover with your family, didn't he?"

Pidge nodded. "Yeah, he said he had a great time too. And my grandmother absolutely loved him."

"That's wonderful. You and him are so good together."

"Are we?"

"God, absolutely." She shook her head with a little bit of a sad smile. "Part of me feels like you should have been with him all along, not me at all."

"That's crap. You had a good time with him, and that's what really happened. No _should haves_."

"Hah, right. We all made our choices."

"We did."

Shay studied the fries again, like she was trying to decide whether to have more. "So your grandma liked him?"

"She _really_ liked him." Pidge leaned back against the cushion with a little smile. "I got the feeling like she was planning our wedding."

Shay laughed. "Oh man, I know your grandma and I'm totally prepared to believe that."

"Who's planning a wedding?" Allura said.

"My grandma," Pidge said. "She met Hunk at our family's Passover seder, and I told her we're not together but I don't think she believed me."

Allura smirked. "Has she seen you two dance together?"

Amy and Jen laughed, and Pidge tried not to blush. "Are we that bad?"

"It's not that it's _bad,_ " Jen said. "It's just kind of ... more intimate than most people who are just friends. You look fantastic, though."

"You look like you're having a great time together," Amy said. "I actually get a little jealous, I wish I knew a lead who could dance with me like that."

Allura leaned on her elbow and looked around Jen at Amy. "Doesn't Kit?"

Kit was Amy's girlfriend and a Charleston fiend, but she had to work today instead of coming along on their outing. "She's not a great lead, and she's smaller than me. And I know I could lead, but it's not the same."

Pidge shrugged. "Just ask Hunk to dance some Thursday."

Amy shook her head with a little smile and an amused huff. "I don't think me having a social dance with him would ever come _close_ to what you've got. Plus Kit would get _totally_ jealous if it did."

"My god, you _guys_ ," Pidge groaned, but she couldn't help grinning as she pulled the lid off her shake so she could attack it with a spoon. She wouldn't mind the friendly ribbing if this thing she had with Hunk was actually a thing at all; the frustration was definitely getting to her.

"You should get Kit to take the class with you," Shay said to Amy. "Dance chemistry with Pidge aside, Hunk is an awesome teacher."

"I've thought about it," Amy said. "We're on the fence though, since we're both entering the Jack and Jill...."

Allura picked up the conversational thread and Shay glanced sideways at Pidge, a tiny smirk on her lips that said _you're welcome_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is especially for manders.ink; I'm like 80% sure that the Goodwill by Timmerman is the one we went to all the time in high school!


	9. Midnite Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Midnite Blue by Count Basie](https://play.spotify.com/track/6SXFZW2rjhVQXLrTThp3zv)
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> See the end note for a brief description of the dance terminology mentioned in this chapter.

Hunk's April went by before he knew it. The magnificent Passover celebration with Pidge's family seemed to be the apex of it, and then the days passed faster and faster until they were tripping over themselves in a rush to get to the weekend of Lindyfest.

 But at the same time as the days went fast, the hours, too often, seemed to drag. Work was absolutely endless, especially since he was now winding up his last couple of months with B&S before he left for Northwestern, and it was only in training his replacement (a fellow, though more recent, graduate of MSOE, named Brad) that Hunk was realizing exactly how much he had taken on, and how poorly-equipped everyone else in his department was to handle the various aspects that his role had absorbed over his three years with the company. He found himself pulling overtime more often than not, because he wasn't gone yet, and still had his actual work to accomplish, besides the training. When he was actually gone, Brad would definitely be in over his head, no matter how hard Hunk worked until then to get him trained up. Really, he mused, that long Lindyfest weekend would be Brad's first sink-or-swim, and Hunk was fully expecting to come back on Tuesday and spend fourteen hours cleaning up. He hoped it could at least be a teachable experience.

Despite this, he kept Thursday evenings sacred, because that was dancing night. Dancing night always meant a home-cooked dinner with Lance and Keith, and for the past several months had come to mean an evening with Pidge afterwards. It was never _only_ with Pidge of course; it was a social dance and he was social because that's what it was for, it was his time to see all of his other dancing friends. And in a couple of short months he wouldn't be able to see them every week like he'd become so accustomed to, so he wanted to enjoy the time while he had it.

He didn't think he was actually spending a lot more time with Pidge than he used to before, but for some reason it felt like that. Yes, if he was honest he probably danced with her more now than before they'd started working on the class, but not by that much. But he did sit with her when they were both taking a rest, and on the nights when she retreated into her introversion after an hour he would still sit with her, and she never shied away from his company, never refused him for a dance, even if she turned down Lance or Shiro or Allura or any of their other friends. When he paid attention, he noticed that Shay was the only other person who Pidge never refused, and he wondered exactly when he'd come to join that very exclusive club of people who were allowed into Pidge's introvert time.

The last Thursday of the month was also the last Thursday before they all went up to Lindyfest, and although it was hard for Hunk to make himself leave work on time rather than staying late because _there are so many things to do_ , Brad seemed to understand and all but pushed him out the door at a quarter to five.

Hunk grabbed his groceries on the way home and started cooking as soon as he arrived, just like he always did. Lance arrived a few minutes later, and Keith after another twenty minutes, just as Hunk was putting the lid on the pan for its last several minutes of simmering to thicken up.

"Tell me that's Golden Curry," Keith said, coming into the kitchen and looking a little wild.

Hunk gave him a grin. "Sure is. I put all your favorite stuff in it, too."

"Where did you get it? I haven't been able to find it anywhere for a while."

"I've had it in the back of the pantry since the last time I stocked up. Saving it for a special occasion."

"Man." Keith crossed his arms and leaned his hip on the counter. "What are we gonna do without you?"

"You're gonna have to come visit me in Illinois and I'll hook you up."

"No backsies. I will absolutely hold you to that."

Hunk laughed. "Good."

The rice cooker beeped, and Keith put a small scoop on his plate to nibble until the rest of the meal was ready.

Lance joined them in the kitchen a few minutes later, and then they all finally sat down to eat. The curry was phenomenally good, as always -- definitely thanks to the carefully-engineered combination of chemicals in the mix, but Hunk liked to think that his addition of black pepper helped too, because even with something as foolproof as this he couldn't not put his own spin on it.

Once they'd had a good few minutes to take the edge off their hunger, Hunk decided it was time to start the conversation he'd been rehearsing in his head all day. "So, I wanted to run an idea past you guys."

"Shoot," Lance said around a mouthful of food.

Hunk took a deep breath. "So you know that Pidge and I are both going to Northwestern in the fall."

Keith smirked at Lance. "I knew it was about Pidge."

Hunk's face got warm -- he was always so obvious. "Anyway, I was thinking of seeing if she wanted to share an apartment with me. It would be nice to not have to live alone in a new place, and I've gotten used to having roommates."

"One bedroom?" Lance asked suggestively.

Hunk scowled. "Two. You know we're not together like that."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I don't know why you're not. Like, come on, you're stupidly in love with her, and it's obvious she's into you too."

"Just because you're projecting a little doesn't mean she likes me."

"I am not!" Lance actually sounded a little hurt, which made Hunk think he was serious, despite his light tone. "She definitely likes you."

"We're just friends."

" _We're_ your friends," Keith said. "Not that Pidge isn't, but you know very well she's special."

"I mean, come on," Lance said, "she took you to meet her family."

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Hunk said. "I'm friends with Matt already and I've met their parents before anyway."

"Dude, you got invited to her family's Passover seder. That's a big deal, she brought you into her parents' house for their most important holiday."

"Her grandmother was there too. She liked me a lot."

Lance's mouth dropped open. "You even charmed her _grandma_? Dude, Pidge is _absolutely_ into you."

"It's not that big a deal."

"Bull _shit_ , dude. I bet you anything Grandma thinks you're sleeping with Pidge."

"She absolutely _doesn't._ I mean, she asked how long we've been dating, but Pidge told her we're just friends."

Lance looked at Keith triumphantly, and Keith smiled around his dinner. "Grandma definitely thought you were boning Pidge."

Hunk groaned and leaned his elbow on the table, carefully looking at his curry instead of his roommates as he tried not to blush. "Man, Grandma Gunderson's fictional version of me is getting more action than the real me is. That's just sad."

Lance laughed, and he heard Keith chuckling too before they all went back to their food for a couple of minutes.

"Okay," Hunk said slowly. "So, let's say hypothetically that Pidge is into me."

"It's not hypothetical if it's true," Lance said, "but continue."

"So, fine, she's into me. And you guys know I'm into her, but at the same time ... I feel like it hasn't been very long since I broke up with Shay. I still feel a lot for Shay, it's still hard to spend time around her because I miss her. I miss our relationship."

Keith looked a little sad, and Lance shrugged. "That's breakups."

"I know, I just ... I wonder if maybe breaking up with Shay was a mistake. Maybe I only feel like this about Pidge because she's so close to Shay. Maybe I'm supposed to be with Shay."

"But you've felt like this about Pidge for a long time," Keith said. "You love her, don't you?"

It felt really weird to hear that for the first time in Keith's voice, before he'd even let himself use those words in his own head. _I love her_. "I mean ... yeah, I do. But I've never known her without Shay. They're kind of a unit. What if I think I love her but it's just residual Shay feelings? I mean, I don't _think_ it is, but what if it _is_ and I just don't know it? I'm kind of terrible at knowing myself sometimes."

"Like Pidge would ever be a rebound," Lance scoffed. "None of that thing you said is remotely true. Trust me, buddy. You know Pidge as herself, she hasn't been a unit with Shay to any of us for years. If it was meant to be with you and Shay, I really don't think you'd feel like this about Pidge."

Hunk pushed his spoon through the sauce left on his plate. "I think if it was _meant to be_ with Pidge, I wouldn't feel torn like this."

"Hm, I don't know about that." Lance picked up his water glass, but didn't drink, just paused and looked at it, suddenly subdued. "Like ... there's destiny in a theoretical way, but there's circumstances too. When you started going out with Shay, Pidge was unavailable. Shay left you for something bigger, and Pidge is still here. It's natural to still feel for Shay, you were with her for almost a whole year." He took a sip and set the glass down again, then leaned back and crossed his arms. "But, dude -- you got into the same grad school as Pidge. I think that says an awful lot about who the universe wants you to have a future with."

Hunk looked over at Keith, who was still slowly eating his rice. "What do you think about the destiny thing, stoic roommate?"

Keith shrugged. "I think Pidge is your soul mate."

Hunk choked on his saliva, and Keith merely stared at him while he coughed. "Are you serious?" he asked when he could breathe again.

"Completely."

"I could see that," Lance chimed in. "I mean, you and her have literally always clicked, you grok each other. And this blues thing has done nothing but show how physically compatible you are."

"There's a difference between dancing and sex," Hunk protested.

Lance glanced at Keith with a smirk. "Yeah, the costume."

"I'm being serious."

"So am I. You know the quote, vertical expression of a horizontal desire. Just maybe don't do airsteps in bed."

Keith laughed. "I'm game if you are."

Hunk pointed an accusing finger at him, then at Lance. "No. Not while I live here. I refuse to take either of you to the ER for that."

"Okay, okay, relax," Lance laughed. "We won't do anything stupid."

"That, I do not believe at all."

"In any case." Lance folded his arms and braced his elbows on the edge of the table. "The thing is, we all know you're in love with Pidge, no question. And whether or not you believe us that she's interested in you too, she's definitely been hanging out with you an awful lot recently, and you guys are super tight. I think it would be a terrible mistake if you didn't tell her how you feel."

Hunk sighed. "I know, I just ... like, I don't want to be _that guy._ "

Lance smiled, but there was sadness in his eyes. "Dude, you only become _that guy_ if you act like a dick and refuse to be friends with her if she says no. But you wouldn't do that, and she won't say no."

Hunk looked at Keith, who nodded, and then stood up from the table and collected his plate. "On the roommate thing," he said, "to circle back to that again. I think you should definitely ask her to live with you."

"You think?" Hunk said, trying not to feel too hopeful.

"Definitely." Keith put the dishes in the sink. "Maybe a two-bedroom until you guys figure yourselves out, but you'll be seeing each other all the time anyway."

"Probably true."

"So just remove the barrier. Share a couch. Cook for her."

"Maybe tell her how you feel first," Lance said. "Wouldn't want that to come out later, after you'd already settled in as roommates. Could get weird."

"Probably a good idea," Hunk agreed.

"So when are you going to tell her?" Lance asked, leaning forward on the table again. "That you like her, I mean. You should do it soon if you want to ask her to live with you too, you've gotta find an apartment soon."

Hunk had to pause and think. He hadn't actually considered the prospect of simply _telling_ Pidge that he loved her. But that was really the only way forward, wasn't it? He would tell her, and depending on how she took it, they'd talk about getting an apartment together in Evanston.

But _god,_ how would he be able to cope if she said no? Would he lose her completely?

"After our drag blues class on Saturday afternoon," Hunk said. "I don't want anything to change between us before then. We've got it perfect right now."

Keith came back to the table. "So at the Saturday social dance?"

Hunk nodded, trying to feel as confident as something this important deserved. "Yeah. Saturday night I'll tell her."

"What are you going to wear?" Lance said suddenly. "I mean, you have to look your best for this."

Hunk looked between him and Keith, who had immediately hooked into Lance's enthusiasm and had a slightly wicked expression on his face. "Something tells me we're going shopping this weekend."

 

Lance and Keith took Keith's car to the dance in the evening, and Hunk did his usual roundabout maneuver to pick up the girls from UWM. Tonight was going to be a little more special than usual; since it was their last social dance before Lindyfest, Coran and Shiro had planned little teasers to get people pumped, and show those who couldn't go a little bit of what was going to happen in Minneapolis. Since Hunk was intimately involved in this, he'd been given some forewarning that he was going to be put on the spot with Pidge fairly early in the evening. He wasn't sure he liked this idea much -- being on the spot was never really a good time for him -- but everyone else would enjoy it so he wasn't going to say no.  Lance and Keith were also going to be featured later in the evening, since they were the only pair from the Milwaukee scene entering the Strictly.  They had apparently been working on an aerial that even Hunk hadn't seen them do yet, and were practically boiling over with excitement to debut it for the club.

The first of the events happened just half an hour in: they did a jam circle with the four of their number who were entering the Jack and Jill competition. The whole crowd formed a circle with Amy, Kit, Pidge, and Allura in the center, and volunteers stepped in to partner them before the music started. It was a song that was a favorite of Allura's, not really swing, but funky and danceable, and Coran followed it immediately with another that was a favorite of Kit's, to extend the jam another couple of minutes. That second song gave Hunk the opportunity he needed to cut in and dance with Kit for a few eight-counts before someone else took his place. He watched Pidge until the circle finished, showing off her best lead moves to the delight of the girls who cut in to dance with her.

Pidge was flushed with happiness and bouncing with exhilaration when they finished, and made straight for Hunk with a big grin. "You looked awesome," he said, following her over to where they'd dropped their things, next to each other as they always seemed to be these days.

"Thanks." She grabbed her water and took a huge swig. "I mean, I don't expect to make the finals or anything, but that sure is a lot of fun."

"I'm a little surprised you're entering as a lead."

She shrugged and plopped down in the chair. "I like to mix it up, you know that. And I'm a little weaker as a lead, I want the challenge."

Hunk sat down beside her. "You're going to have to really teach me to follow, okay?"

"What, Lance hasn't been drilling you?"

"No, not since that night you were at our house. And I need a lot of practice."

She giggled and glanced up at him. "I can help you practice but I'm probably too tiny to be _good_ practice."

He shrugged. "I'm taller than everyone I dance with anyway, I don't think that's going to be a problem."

"And I'm always shorter, so maybe we're a good pair after all." Pidge leaned back in her chair, letting out a contented sigh as she relaxed into a lounging position. "We're up soon for the blues thing, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I was told."

"Neat. I'm gonna chill until then, I need a little break to catch my breath."

She closed her eyes, so he let his own gaze linger on her. She looked nice tonight, for some reason. Not that she didn't always look nice, but something seemed different, though he couldn't put his finger on what. She was wearing what she always did on Thursday nights, those leggings with the racing stripes and a t-shirt. Maybe it's because this shirt was so dark, it set up a contrast with her pale skin and brought out the spots of pigment on her arms and neck that he'd recently found himself drawn to.

Her outfit looked actually put-together tonight, he realized; maybe that was it. It didn't look like just workout clothes, and it was really flattering on her. It made his attraction to her even stronger. Made him really want to kiss those little moles on her neck.

Wow, okay, not a good train of thought for right now. He made himself remember that he was about to go on stage in front of literally every one of his friends, and that was enough of a cold shower to turn his libido off again. It would work for a while, anyway.

He made himself look away from her, back out at everyone who was dancing. The song was one he didn't know, so he tried to do the close listening thing he'd halfway learned in high school. He wasn't sure whether he really got anything out of it, but it was enjoyable enough, and it distracted him from his building anxiety.

After another couple of songs Shiro got up again, so Hunk nudged Pidge and they both took the floor as it cleared.

"Next we have a little demonstration. You all probably know that our own Hunk is teaching a class on drag blues again this year, and Pidge will be assisting him."

There was scattered applause and hoots from the crowd, which sounded like Lance, though Hunk couldn't see him. Several of the people right at the front sat down on the floor, and a few others followed suit.

"They're going to do a little demonstration for us," Shiro continued. "If you're in the class, this is what you'll learn. And, are there still spots open?"

Hunk nodded. "Last I heard, I have room for two more leads and one follow. Sign-up is on the Lindyfest website."

"When is it?"

"Saturday afternoon."

"Cool beans. You're on, then. Hit it, Coran."

The murmuring of the crowed faded to a whisper as he took Pidge in his arms, and his heart pounded as he remembered the first time he'd really done this with her. Valentine's Day seemed like a lifetime ago, before he'd known how he felt about her, before she had become everything to him. She had been so _unbelievably_ good that night. For a while it had felt like a fluke, or like he had dreamed it, but recently she'd matched and then surpassed herself. He knew from the feel of her right now that this was about to be the best dance they'd ever had.

She put her arm up on his, squeezed his shoulder gently and put her weight on him. She was warm and soft and he could feel her breathing.

The music started, a slow, sultry piano motif that couldn't be anyone but Basie. He dragged Pidge slowly backwards, stretching her out longer and lower until the horns came in. They twisted around, he opened her out and they both sat heavy into the bass hit, their connection perfectly balanced. She met his eye and did an incredibly slow hip shimmy along with the lighter piano bit; he had to remind himself to breathe, and there was a holler from someone in the crowd. She smiled as he turned her through a couple of spins and then brought her back into closed position.

Hunk let himself forget their audience and focused on the dance, which put his entire attention on Pidge’s body language: how she no longer tensed away or held back from this intimate contact with him like she had before, the way she was ultra-responsive to his leading, at moments following so perfectly that he thought she was psychic. He marvelled at the way she leaned into him just a little heavier and softer when he set his cheek next to hers, and when he then moved her quickly she was completely compliant, letting him pull her in a tight circle and then leaning out into his hand. A moment of eye contact, musical connection, then a tense and release that brought her right back up into him before he pushed her out into a slow turn, a direction change, a quicker double-turn into a huge, elastic open position that coincided with the swelling volume from the band.

She held there for a couple of basics, never taking her eyes off him, a mischievous smile on her lips while she gently resisted his lead with swaying hips. He did a series of open moves with her, holding that tension between them as tight as they could, barely-contained energy simmering just below the surface -- until he pulled her back in with a couple of lazy, twisty turns, and finally held her firmly against his body, taking her weight on him and gathering their joined hands to his chest as the music made its way back to the first melody. She rested her head on his shoulder so briefly he thought he might have imagined, but her breath tickled his neck and her fingers tightened on his shirt and he’d never felt as close to anyone as he felt to Pidge in that moment – like she’d become a part of him.

He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her more than he thought he'd ever wanted to do anything. It was consuming him.

A thought flitted through his mind, what Keith had said a couple of hours ago -- _soul mates_. He didn't know if he believed in that, really, but there was no denying that this thing he had with Pidge was extremely special. For them to have this intimacy, this understanding, without even really trying, without being romantically involved at all -- if having a soul mate was real, maybe that's what it meant. To connect just like he was doing with Pidge right now, to communicate so clearly with her using nothing but their bodies.

And then he realized the song was almost over, and all their friends were watching, as still as though they were holding their breath. He wanted this dance to never end, but there was only a couple eight-counts left. The rational part of his mind won out and he swooped Pidge – as unbelievably responsive as ever – into a flashy dip, not the small intimate one he wanted, but it was very sexy and made her grin as bright as the sun and all their friends cheered and whistled as she wrapped her leg around his hip. He held her there for a moment after the music stopped, hanging onto this world where it was just the two of them and the dance. But then he pulled her back up, and she squeezed his hand before she turned to intercept Keith, who was descending on them at high speed and had never looked so excited.

_Pidge, I love you._ It was on the tip of his tongue, burning him, but his anxiety wouldn't let him open his mouth and free it. Lance crashed into him then, throwing them both off-balance as he chattered, and it took Hunk a minute to tune in. "--totally impressed, like, that was definitely the sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Hunk happened to spot Shay in the crowd; she met his gaze and gave him a smile that seemed sad and forced, and it was like a splash of cold water. Despite the way things had gone with Shay he never wanted to hurt her, and to see that look on her face brought all of his doubts rushing back.

He took a shuddering breath, trying to focus on Lance again. Lance was his best friend, and even when his anxiety got worked up he always trusted him. And right now, Lance was totally gushing over his dance with Pidge.

"Did it feel amazing? It looked like it felt amazing."

He was just so _earnest_ , maybe that's why Hunk always instinctively trusted him. "It did. I think it was the best dance we've ever had."

Pidge must have heard, because her head turned, she glanced up at him with a smile for a second before she turned back to Keith and Amy.

"Damn," Lance said. "The best?"

"I don't know, maybe." He shrugged and felt his face prickling with embarrassment in anticipation of his next thought, which he couldn't stop from spilling off his lips. "I mean, she's so good, and we partner so well, it's kind of nonsense to bother ranking dances.  They're all the best thing that's ever happened to me."

The music started up again, and Coran must have thought he was being very funny because it was Tom Jones, and it didn't even swing, but clearly everybody was going to dance to it anyway. Lance took Hunk's hand and pulled him into closed position; Hunk was completely thrown for a second, forced into the follow role, and it took him a good several eight-counts before he got his feet moving correctly.

"Time for you to get some humility, mister big-shot," Lance said with a grin. "All those girls who were jealous of Pidge while you were blues dancing need to see that you're a shitty-ass follow."

Hunk laughed. "Nobody's watching us."

Lance opened him out, and Hunk lost his feet again. Lance waited patiently while he found the beat once more. "Somebody's always watching."

He led Hunk in gently, and Hunk did his best to keep his feet moving correctly while Lance turned, trailing Hunk's hand around his waist before catching it again and meeting his eye. "Pidge was watching that."

And the blush came right back. "No she wasn't. You're just fucking with me."

Lance raised that eyebrow of his. "I'm gonna turn you around real slow. She's dancing with Kit and they're not even pretending like they're not watching."

Lance put his arm around Hunk's back, and turned them slowly in a circle while Hunk tried to focus on his basic. Sure enough, both Pidge and Kit were watching, and they waved at him. He took his hand off Lance's shoulder to wave back, and Lance winked. "You flirt."

"They waved first."

"Of course they did, buddy."

"Shut up."

"Make me. Ready for a swing-out?"

"Oh, god." He let Lance push him out into open position. "Do we have to?"

Lance laughed. "Yes. Ready?"

"No!"

"Great. Five six seven eight--"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional songs in this chapter:  
> [Green Onions by Booker T and the MG's](https://play.spotify.com/track/6KKcey1w86oP0qxN8frbfD)  
> [Fibre De Verre by Paris Combo](https://play.spotify.com/track/0LOO9qMp3l5RABzAp754WW)  
> [Sex Bomb by Tom Jones](https://play.spotify.com/track/47TOpx16LwqnL9ff2uWTef)
> 
> With apologies to the real Brad, if you happen to find this. You'll always be a Sophomore.
> 
> A jam circle is a way that dancers like to celebrate a special occasion, especially birthdays. The honorees go in the center and everyone circles up around them, and through the song other people cut in to dance with them. So if you're special and get to be in the center of a jam circle, you'll dance with probably a dozen people or more over the course of a song. The people forming the circle clap along with the music. And always on 2 and 4 because we're not squares.
> 
> Jack and Jill is a dance competition where individual dancers enter, and then are randomly paired with another competitor for about 30 seconds at a go of freestyle dancing, then rotate through. The Jack and Jill is designed to test a dancer's overall leading or following skill.
> 
> Strictly is a dance competition where pairs enter together. Again they dance one pair at a time for about 30 seconds at a go of freestyle dancing, and choreography is not permitted. Some competitions do not permit airsteps (aerials, or flashy acrobatic moves) since they can be dangerous, but I believe Lindyfest allows them, and in this universe they definitely do.


	10. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby by Dinah Washington](https://play.spotify.com/track/42gjKLOPmC7rjXZpDdTHcO)

_I am going to walk right up to his gate  
_ _To see if I can get it straight_

 

Pidge's mother's kitchen was grey and almost dark, like the lights weren't working, but it was enough to clearly see Hunk at the sink. He turned when she approached, his glossy hair shining in the dim light, his eyes as deep as the ocean.

"Hey."

"Hi." She held out her hand, an invitation to dance. He took it; she knew he always would.

He pulled her into closed position, just like they'd done a hundred times, but this time her heart pounded so hard she was sure he could feel it, and the way he smiled at her, she somehow knew that his beat in time with hers. She ran her hand down his arm, lingering over the contours of his muscles, from his shoulder all the way down to his fingertips.

"What do you want?" he whispered.

She could barely breathe, and her pulse thrummed through their joined bodies. "Only you."

And then his face was up in hers and his arms were wrapped around her and _this was a kiss, he was kissing her_ , and she was gasping and the blanket was sliding off her onto the fl--

 

She woke up, still gasping, disoriented and disappointed and alone. Her room was grey with the weak light of predawn, and she was uncomfortably sweaty where the blanket was still on top of her. She kicked it all the way off and then rolled over onto her front with a frustrated sigh, trying to ignore the lust throbbing low in her belly. She squeezed her thighs together -- but that only made it worse. She wouldn't be able to ignore this now.

Like she didn't want him badly enough already. That exhibition blues dance two nights ago had been the highlight of her dancing life to date: the way they had connected was beyond what Pidge had thought was possible. Hunk's body had spoken to hers, saying exactly what he was going to do, and she'd barely had to think, only react in just the way her instincts had wanted to.

It was probably the sexiest thing she'd ever done. And the arousal had found her during the dance, despite the fact that they had an audience, making it incredibly hard to let go of him when they were finished.

And then he had danced with Lance, and he'd been adorably awkward trying to follow to "Sex Bomb" and it had only made her want him more. She'd grabbed him for the next song, let him lead her in an exhilarating fast dance to everyone's favorite, "It Don't Mean A Thing," and the fast one was nearly as much like having sex as the slow one had been. She even smelled like it afterwards, as she sat with him, both catching their breath in the afterglow.

Remembering it now, alone in her bed, she wanted to cry from frustration. And it wasn't just that she was attracted to him, it was that she loved him, completely and absolutely, everything about him.

Somehow this being awake before dawn thing had let those words come into her mind, and it occurred to her that even though the conclusion now seemed obvious, she'd never realized it before. Not in so many words. But there it was, and it made her feel ... free.

She rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling. "How long have I been in love with Hunk?"

 

 

Pidge managed to mostly forget her dream as she went through the day, though she did consider herself fortunate that she wasn't going to Hunk's to practice in the afternoon like she usually did on Saturdays, because that would have been too much to take, at least while they still didn't know what they were to each other. He had to go in to work, apparently, so she made the best use of her time that she could to get caught up on all of her school work. It was less than a week until Lindyfest, and the timing in the semester was sort of terrible but she was determined to make it work.

By the time evening came around, she'd accomplished about half of what her goal had been, to her dismay, but it was time to get ready to go to the math stats study session that would most likely run until after midnight -- most of her classmates were getting together to run down every last problem set they'd done in the semester, and it was going to be a long night of work. She knew she needed to eat before she went, and she tried to ask Shay if she had any ideas for dinner, but just got a shrug and her roommate mumbling under her breath while she tried to recall memorized facts about geopolitics or something.

So she made a peanut butter and chocolate chip sandwich. It wasn't exactly wholesome -- her mother would be appalled -- but it was deliciously squishy and very sweet. And besides, the bread was one that Shay had picked up from the Trader Joe's in Whitefish Bay on a visit to her brother, which meant that Pidge could fool herself into thinking it was healthy. It was probably a good thing that there wasn't a Trader Joe's near the east side, or that's all Pidge would eat, and she'd absolutely overdo it on the junk food.

She brewed a pot of coffee before she headed out and poured it into her thermos. Shay did look up and make a face when she took the basket out of the machine to throw away the grounds. "I don't know how you drink that crap."

Pidge shrugged. "I'm an addict."

"I need you to love yourself, Pidge."

"I'll buy a machine that costs more than five dollars and drink good coffee when I have a salary, okay? That's only a few months away."

"I can only imagine the good stuff will cost even more down in Illinois."

"Actually, Matt says grocery prices are a lot cheaper in Chicago than up here. Competition, I guess." She zipped up her bag.

"Oh, right. Capitalism."

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm about to be late, I gotta bounce. See you tonight?"

"If I'm still up when you get back. Do you know how late that'll be?"

"No idea."

"Well, anyway, have fun."

"Hah, yeah right."

Shay gave her a little wave goodbye, and Pidge traipsed down the stairs, opened the front door and stopped in her tracks -- Hunk was about to step onto the porch, and he wore an expression that was both surprised and pleased. "Oh, neat! I guess you saw me pull up. Thanks for getting the door." He gestured with the foil-covered casserole dish in his hands.

Pidge was shocked speechless for a moment. In fact she _hadn't_ seen him pull up, she hadn't known he was coming at all, much less apparently bringing dinner. Suddenly she thought of her dream again, and her stomach fluttered. "Yeah, um," she tried. "I, uh ... I had no idea you were here."

Hunk's bright expression faltered. "You what?"

"I didn't know you were here. I didn't know you were coming, I didn't think I'd see you today."

He inhaled sharply. "Shay invited me for dinner. I thought it was the three of us. I cooked."

"No, I...." She shrugged the shoulder her backpack was on, and turned a bit to show it to him. "I was on my way out. I have a thing for class tonight."

He looked troubled for a moment before his face went carefully blank. "Oh, well. Have fun at your thing."

"Yeah, I will." She wouldn't, not at all. "I, uh. I'll see you later. Have fun with Shay."

She held the door open for him, and he looked at her for a moment. "Yeah, thanks." And then he stepped around her and into the house, and she heard him call hello to Shay before she shut the door behind him and headed out onto the sidewalk.

Shay had invited him over. For dinner, apparently, and she was pretty sure it was his idea to bring food because it was always his idea to feed people. And Shay had invited him at a time that she knew Pidge would be out, and clearly hadn't let Hunk in on that detail.

What the _fuck_ was going on?!

 

By the time Pidge got to her study group she'd tied herself in a Gordian knot of fear and doubt. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to focus on her classwork, but that fear was apparently ungrounded -- the material was as engaging as it had been all semester, and she had an awful lot of focusing to do. It took only a few minutes to put her worry about Hunk out of her mind, and she didn't think of him again until the group finally finished at a quarter to midnight and she stepped out into the cool night.

It was the smell of the outdoors that brought it all rushing back, for some reason. Maybe because today had been the first summery day of the season, and the smell of the spring mud baking out of the sidewalks and freshly-cut grass still hung in the air. That aroma had been there when Hunk had surprised her hours ago.

What an awful association. Why did scent memories have to be such a big thing?

It was a short walk home, but her mind spun the whole way, tying her right back into the knot from before and then some. How long had Hunk stayed? What did they talk about? Why did Shay invite him over, was something going on between them again? Had Shay decided that she loved him enough to try to make things work?

She felt sick in the pit of her stomach, and her heart ached, deep in her chest. Why did it feel like Hunk and Shay were going behind her back? There was no back to go behind. Hunk was just her friend, they weren't a couple or anything. There was no reason for her to think that she was special to him, other than the fact that he made her feel special, and then she felt like an idiot for letting herself think that meant something. That's just how he was. He was immensely lovable, and she ... she had fallen in love.

Falling was awful. The actual falling bit had been fun, exhilarating, addictive -- but this must be the sudden stop at the end. That's what gets you, isn't it.

Shay was in her pajamas on the couch when Pidge came in, and Hunk was clearly long gone.

"Hey," Shay said quickly, standing up and closing her book. "Pidge, I--"

"No, it's okay." Pidge waved a hand at her roommate and trudged to her bedroom so she could drop her backpack, suddenly heavier than it had ever been.

"Please," Shay begged, following behind her and stopping in the doorway, leaning into Pidge's room without actually entering. "Pidge, I'm sorry.  I didn't want it to happen like that. He got here really early."

"It's fine," Pidge sighed, wishing she could make herself believe it. This was not fine at all but that wasn't anyone's fault but her own, Shay did nothing wrong.  She was allowed to see friends.  Ex-boyfriends.

"It's not," Shay insisted. "Because I knew you would jump to conclusions that aren't true, I know you _have_. It's not like that, I'm not -- I'm not trying anything with him." She seemed to lose some of her forcefulness at that, became contrite, and looked down at her toes when Pidge finally turned to face her.

"So what is it like?" Her voice came out tired, rather than harsh like she intended. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know, but that's what a person said at this point in the conversation.

"I know how you feel about him," Shay said softly. "I really do, I promise. And I know how he feels about you. I asked him over so we could clear the air of the thing we used to have, put it behind us. We just talked. A lot of it was about you." She took a shaking breath. "I'm not getting back with him and I hate that I made you think that. I didn't want that to happen."

Pidge was so, so tired; what should have been a weight off was simply a release of tension that made her feel like she wanted to collapse and dissolve into exhausted tears. "Okay."

"I told him I'd let him be the one to tell you ... whatever he wants to tell you about this. It's not really about me."

"Okay."

Shay fidgeted for a second. "He left a bunch of food for you. Lasagna."

"I'm not hungry."

Shay folded her arms. "You know I love you more than I ever loved him. I want you to be happy."

Pidge was determined not to cry; she gritted her teeth and breathed in through her nose, as deeply as she could. "Thanks, Shay. I'm sorry, I just -- I'm really tired. I need to go to bed."

Shay nodded. "Yeah, sorry, I know it's late. Thanks for letting me explain, though."

Pidge forced herself to smile, but was fairly sure that it came out wrong. "Good night, dude."

"Right, yeah. Good night."

Pidge changed into her pajamas and went into the bathroom, while Shay turned out the light in the living room and went into her own bedroom. The light above the sink was uncomfortably bright, but its harshness forced Pidge's over-tired brain into a decision while she was brushing her teeth, the edge of the sink digging into her hip because she was too wrung out even to stand up straight.

She _had_ to tell Hunk how she felt. That she was in love with him. She couldn't keep doing this, keep waiting to see what was going to happen between them, keep doing the roundabout bullshit they had fallen into. Tonight she'd had a taste of losing him, and it was so, _so_ much worse than she'd thought it might be.

So she would tell him. She had Shay's encouragement, she had that dress from Goodwill, and she had an entire long weekend of dancing coming up. She couldn't possibly keep this thing unspoken any longer than that.

It needed to happen at Lindyfest. Saturday night would be the best opportunity -- it was after their class, and the live band dance was the highlight of the whole weekend. If she made it to the Jack and Jill final, she would tell him right after that.

She rinsed the toothpaste out of her mouth and opened the mirror cabinet, took one of her big multivitamins and then popped one of the small pills out of its blister pack and swallowed it with a big swig of water.

She had gone to the student clinic to get the prescription on impulse at the beginning of the week, and she was supposed to take them at the same time every day, but she hadn't figured that part out very well yet. And now was certainly not the time to worry at it, when she was drowning in doubt that she would even need them. Right now it really felt like she was getting way too far ahead of herself, like things with Hunk would never get that far. It was ridiculous to have a contingency plan for something so improbable. But at least, with her insurance, they hadn't cost anything. Thanks, Obama.

She closed the cabinet and stared down her reflection in the mirror, squaring her jaw defiantly at the wild hair and dark circles around her eyes and indentations on the sides of her nose from her glasses. "This is it, Pidge," she whispered under her breath. "You're gonna tell him in a week. No more waiting."

Her reflection stared back, unwavering, certain. Decision made.

 


	11. Minnie the Moocher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Minnie the Moocher by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy](https://open.spotify.com/track/0LFIogdKLhuH3y1Tf78EYW)

_Folks, here's a story 'bout Minnie the Moocher_  
_She was a red-hot hoochie-coocher_  
_She was the roughest, toughest frail_  
_But Minnie had a heart as big as a whale_

 

There had been discussion among the Milwaukee dancers about going up to Minneapolis for the river boat dance on Thursday night, but unfortunately most of them had commitments on Thursday that they couldn't get out of, especially since they were going to be away Friday and Monday. Pidge really wished she could have gone -- the river boat thing sounded like it was going to be amazing -- but she couldn't get there on her own, and Matt would have killed her if she got to do that and he didn't.

On Thursday afternoon Pidge tagged along with Shay to the airport in a cab -- Hunk was working late that night, to make up a few hours for the days he was going to miss, or he would have driven them. Pidge was pretty sure that Shay was a little bit relieved that he wasn't doing it, though; she didn't know much about what had happened on Saturday, but she did know that Shay had seemed to change, to be more focused on her decision, on her future. On her life without Hunk. And obviously it was going to be hard for her to be around him once she had firmed up that decision, because being around him was always delightful. Pidge probably knew that better than anyone.

Pidge hugged Shay goodbye, then went and waited on a bench outside the baggage claim until Matt's bus arrived forty-five minutes later.

It had only been a couple of weeks since Pidge had last seen her brother, but it felt like way too long, especially because she was aching to catch him up on the whole Hunk thing. He had clearly known that something was going on between them at Passover, but he hadn't pried, and he was really the only person she felt like she could talk to without holding anything back. Even though he and Hunk were buddies, he was her brother first and he would always be on her side, without worrying about Shay's feelings.

But at the same time, she couldn't convince herself to do it. Telling Matt what she had planned felt like forcing the issue, and it had taken enough for her to finally get her heart here that she didn't want to reverse-psychology herself and get into that place where she refused to do something because she had to. She was going to tell Hunk she loved him because _she wanted to,_ not because of any external pressure.

They caught a cab back to Pidge's place, talking nonstop the whole way. As usual, the more comfortable Matt got, the more he used sign language -- he was wearing his hearing aids, because he would need them to dance, but she knew he didn't like them and was trying to get around using them when he could. It had been a long time since Pidge had signed with him, and to her dismay she had clearly forgotten a lot, but as usual it was primarily an addition to Matt's chatter so it didn't impede her understanding while she was trying to get her mind around ASL again.

First Matt filled her in on his research, and then he started to bring up Hunk and Pidge was incredibly tempted to let everything spill. Instead she stopped herself abruptly, and Matt started to sign something with a look on his face like he was _not_ going to let his little sister get away with that -- but then he hesitated.

"I need a sign for Hunk's name," he said instead, and Pidge blushed instantly but they spent the rest of the drive making one up.

They ordered a pizza for dinner, and spent the evening on the couch heckling their favorite movies until Matt started to fall asleep, and they said good night.

 

It was too damn early when Hunk arrived at Pidge's house on Friday morning, and he was too damn chipper when her brother went down to let him in.

"Hey, Matt!"

"Hey Hunk! How's things?"

"Not bad, not bad. How are the supermassive black holes?"

Matt laughed. "Same as ever, fat cats keep gettin' fatter."

"Ooh, good one buddy!" There was a slap that was almost definitely a high five.

Pidge rolled her eyes as they cleared the top of the stairs and came into the kitchen. "Aren't you almost done with that PhD, Matt?" she said, doing her best to imitate their mother.

He sighed. "You and Dr Pickett need to get off my back about that. I'm only just finishing my third year, nobody gets done that quick."

"Didn't your PI take a crazy long time to finish her thesis, anyway?" Hunk said.

"Right on -- she's always talking about how it took her seven years. She shouldn't be riding me about that at all, should she?"

"But you are getting close to done?"

"Close-ish? The research side is closing in, then there's the writing."

"Yeah, that'll get you." Hunk looked around the kitchen. "I smell coffee, do you have coffee?"

Pidge lifted her mug. "This is the last of it, sorry. Unless you want the last mouthful here, I can be done."

Hunk made a face like he wanted to say no, but his caffeine addiction won out. "Yeah, I'll take it."

She handed him the cup. "It's not very good."

He swallowed it in one go. "Bleh. No, it's not. Thanks, though."

"Let's stop on our way out of town," Matt said. "I can't drink the garbage that Pidge makes at all."

"I can barely drink it myself," Pidge said. "Shay made me promise that when I move to Evanston I'm going to ditch that piece of shit drip machine for something a little less awful."

Hunk took a breath and made eye contact with her like he was about to say something, but seemed to suddenly reconsider and looked away.

"Let's hit the road," Matt said. "I'm all packed. Pidge?"

"Yeah, let me just grab my sweatshirt and shoes and we can go."

 

Matt drove the first leg of the trip, Milwaukee to Madison, which put Pidge in the back seat and Hunk on soundtrack duty. The car was so old it only had a tape deck, but Hunk had a yellowed tape adapter that he plugged into his iPhone so they could stream Spotify over 4G and hear it over twenty-year-old speakers that didn't do so well with high frequencies any more. He even had a driving playlist, to Matt's delight filled with classic rock and leading off with a couple of songs from _The Big Lebowski,_ before it turned over to the Stones as they were getting out of the city and into the suburbs.

"You don't have cruise control, do you?" Matt said, and Hunk scoffed.

"On this thing? Yeah right. It's a big enough struggle to keep her rolling with the original features. There's also no A/C so if it gets hot we'll have to open the windows."

Matt sighed dramatically. "You couldn't fix the air conditioning?"

Hunk shrugged. "Wasn't worth it. This car costs too much to keep up as it is."

"So why don't you get a new one?"

Hunk set his hand on the dashboard. "Because I love her. She's a piece of crap, but she's _my_ piece of crap, you know?"

"Hah. Yeah."

 _Wild horses...._ Mick Jagger's voice crooned, and Hunk twisted in his seat just enough to give Pidge a little smile. _Couldn't drag me away...._

Pidge was struck with a feeling of immense perspective, like she knew all of a sudden that this moment was cosmically important, though she wasn't sure exactly why. She took stock: Matt was driving and humming to the music, in his usual off-tune way; Hunk was in the passenger seat, cradling his Colectivo coffee cup in his hands and gazing at the highway ahead; and Pidge was here in the back with her own coffee. Even though it was well after sunrise the sky was dark with clouds, making everything feel close and intimate, and here she was with her brother and the man she loved, watching him and with the Stones in her ears and feeling like she finally saw everything.

She desperately wanted to tell Hunk. The words were fully-formed inside her now, lodged in the middle of her chest, filling her. She wasn't _going_ to tell him right now, not while she was stuck in the back of his car. But in this enclosed space with him, and the way the music made her feel, she got the sensation that he might already know. That when she did tell him, it wouldn't be totally out of the blue.

It was because of the song, she realized; "Wild Horses." It had come up on his blues playlist one Saturday when they were practicing, and she must have said something about how much she liked _Sticky Fingers_. He'd remembered, he'd put it on this playlist for _her_ , and when he'd turned and looked at her just now, he was saying something. She couldn't put words to it but she _understood._ It felt like his soul had reached out and touched hers, and everything made sense.

 

Matt pulled into a gas station just outside of Madison, and shook Pidge awake while Hunk got to work refueling. He didn't know how she had fallen asleep after all the coffee she'd had, but she had definitely managed it. She had gone down hard, and rousing her wasn't easy.

They took a few minutes to stretch their legs and use the bathroom after the car was ready, and since they were running ahead of schedule, Hunk managed to convince Pidge to take the driver seat for her first lesson on a manual transmission.

Matt smiled to himself as he climbed into the back seat. Their dad had been trying to get Pidge to learn for years, but she always resisted, making excuses about short legs and obsolete technology. It gratified him to see that Hunk had enough influence over his sister to actually get her to try something she'd so obstinately refused.

And he did seem to be a good teacher. The car was already facing out and in an empty part of the parking lot, and he talked her through the basic operations of the clutch and shifter before he had her start the engine.

She was clearly on edge, though; she jumped a little when the car roared to life, and her shoulders were like iron. Hunk was putting on a good show of calmness, though Matt could tell it _was_ a show. Even though he couldn't make out Hunk's words very clearly from back here, over the sound of the car, he could hear the tone, and his body language was unmistakable.

"Okay, good," Hunk said gently. "Now keep your feet on the clutch and the brake, and put it in first."

Pidge took the gear shifter in her hand, and after a moment of looking at the thing like she didn't know what it was for, managed to put it into first gear. She pulled her hand off the shifter and wiped it on the leg of her jeans before she put it back -- she was getting the nervous sweats. It was an unfortunate Holt family trait, made uncomfortable situations even worse, and Matt felt his own palms getting moist in a slightly-disgusting sympathetic reaction.

"Good," Hunk said, but the gentle patience was clearly almost gone -- the nerves were getting to him, too, and Pidge hadn't even done anything yet. "Now take your right foot off the brake, and ease onto the gas while you ease off the clutch."

Pidge took a shuddering breath. The engine revved for a second, she backed off; then for a few heady seconds she had it, Matt felt the car begin to move forward. And then she must have panicked, pushed the clutch for a second in or something, because the car lurched and then the transmission made a horrible noise.

Hunk grabbed the dashboard with one hand and the gear shifter with the other, pulling it out of Pidge's grip and into neutral. "No, okay, stop!"

"I don't know how!" Pidge cried. "I don't think the clutch works!"

"For the love of fuck," Matt groaned.

"Just brake, just brake!" Hunk said. "It's not in gear now."

The engine revved again, and Pidge made a terrified squeak before the car finally stopped abruptly. Hunk reached over and pulled the parking brake, then turned off the ignition. "Okay, that wasn't very good."

"I was nervous," Pidge protested, and she was bright red and looked mortified. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt it."

"I don't think you hurt it," Hunk said, sounding marginally calmer. "I mean, it didn't kill the engine. We can teach you to drive a manual transmission another time."

Pidge unbuckled her seatbelt. "I don't know why you think it's important. Everything's automatic these days."

Hunk got out of the car too, and Matt couldn't hear them at all as they crossed in front of the car, but he managed to read Hunk's lips. "Until the one time it's _not,_ and then you'll need to be able to use the stick."

"I really don't think that's likely."

"You never know."

They got back into the car and shut the doors, and Hunk started the engine. Matt leaned forward to speak quietly to Pidge. "Can't handle Hunk's stick, huh?"

"Oh my god, shut _up!_ " She swatted at him, and he leaned back, laughing. Hunk had obviously heard, and was trying not to smile while his face turned distinctly red. At least they didn't seem to be upset about her driving fail any more.

"Is it 'cuz you've only dated girls?" Matt said, not done heckling her.

Pidge turned around in her seat, scowling and pink, and signed _Eat a dick._ "I haven't _only_ dated girls, there was that boy in high school."

"He barely counts."

"You dated a boy in high school?" Hunk said, sounding surprised as he pulled out onto the road again.

Pidge sighed. "Yeah, briefly. Tenth grade. He played the trumpet and was a major douchebag."

"Low-key antisemitic, too," Matt added.

"Ugh, don't remind me. He was a bad decision on _so_ many levels." She pulled out her phone and plugged it into the tape adapter.

"He was cute, though."

"God, he sure was. It shouldn't be allowed for a guy to be attractive and a jerk, but there are so many."

Matt laughed. "We should count ourselves lucky that Hunk here is a fine specimen of a man, and also the nicest person I've ever met."

Pidge giggled and looked at Hunk, who had his eyes carefully on the road but was grinning broadly and was even redder than before. She started the music, and she murmured something towards Matt but the Radiohead was far too loud for him to hear her over it, and she was at an angle where he couldn't read her lips either.

Which hurt, a little; when they were younger, both living at home, they'd communicated in ASL nearly as much as in speech, and as soon as she was old enough to really understand, Pidge had never let him be left out. She wasn't fluent, but she signed much better than either of their parents, to the point that it had become sort of a secret language between them, even though it was spoken by hundreds of thousands of people.

But in the years since they'd both moved out of their parents' house, she seemed to be forgetting that he couldn't always hear. She had been doing fairly well this weekend, accommodating his hearing although she wasn't signing much, but ever since the Holt duo had become a trio with the addition of Hunk this morning, she was really slipping and he was feeling out of the loop. He felt like a third wheel.

He tapped her shoulder, and when she turned, he signed _I'm turning my ears off,_ and made an effort to do it a little slowly so she would get it.

She made an odd face for a moment until she understood, then nodded and gave him _ok._

He switched off his hearing aids, and the music and road noise suddenly became a pleasant deep hum. He pulled the devices off his ears and stashed them in their case quickly before he tapped Pidge on the shoulder again. _Have you told Hunk?_

_Told what?_

_You love him._

She looked surprised, then shook her head with an apologetic look: _Soon._ She finger-spelled it; clearly she'd forgotten some vocab over the last few years, though her fingers still knew what they were doing, even if she perpetually signed sort of weirdly. It was just her accent, he supposed.

She looked up at Hunk then; he must have said something. Matt couldn't quite read Pidge's lips from this angle when she replied to Hunk. But then she looked back at him, and after a moment of thought signed _future-day_ with a determined look on her face. Tomorrow.

That made Matt's heart considerably lighter. Pidge and Hunk's mutual thing had been blindingly obvious at Passover, and just now he had to remind himself that they weren't actually a couple. He didn't want to push Pidge too hard, but the sooner they got past this weird emotional roadblock, the better.

 

Hunk drove the next two hours, after _OK Computer_ switching the soundtrack over to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy covering Cab Calloway. He made sure to point out the song that he had named his car after: "Minnie the Moocher" had cost him twice as much in parts as she had to buy in the first place, but at least he did all his own labor. Pidge did her best to sign the story for Matt in the back seat -- he had put in one hearing aid, but she knew he had a hard time making out speech when there was a lot of ambient noise, and there was always a lot of ambient noise in Hunk's car. In Black River Falls they met up with Keith's and Shiro's car loads for lunch. Then Matt took the final leg, forcing Pidge into the back seat where she promptly fell asleep to the sound of rain on the roof of the car.

Hunk woke her when they crossed the state line into Minnesota two hours later, but she didn't fully come back to herself until they arrived at the house where she and Matt were staying for the weekend, along with Shiro, Allura, Amy, and Kit. Their host was a dancer named Andy who was a family friend of Kit's, and this same group had all stayed at his house last year as well, so it felt familiar, piling into the house with everyone. Pidge and Matt even had the same spot as last time, on the floor in the living room with Shiro on the couch. Amy and Kit had an actual bed in the spare room, and Allura got a twin-size air mattress on the floor with them. Pidge and Matt had once more rounded up as many yoga mats from friends as they could find, and made a pact to pretend they were camping so that they wouldn't mind so much being in sleeping bags. Pidge was at least glad that she'd brought her own pillows this time, because last year she'd forgotten and it hadn't gone well.

They said goodbye to Hunk after they'd unloaded their things, and he set off for his own housing at a different location -- he and Lance and Keith were staying with someone who knew Keith from college, and had apparently been the reason he started dancing.

It was only early afternoon, hours still until the Friday evening dance started. It was still raining, which made Shiro and Kit grouchy since they had planned on going for a jog, but Andy was an extremely well-prepared host and pulled out a stack of board games. Matt and Pidge successfully roped Shiro and Kit into a game of Risk, which quickly spun into some of the best trash-talking Pidge had ever been part of. Matt especially laid into Shiro, who gave as good as he got and actually left Matt blushing a few times -- Pidge knew how hard he was trying not to be obvious about his crush, but she got the feeling that Shiro sort of knew and was playing him.

Kit was unsurprisingly ruthless and took the victory in the end, by which time Andy had prepared his pizza order. They all ate together sitting on the living room floor, and then it was time to get ready for the dance.

Pidge was starting to get nervous at that point -- the Jack and Jill preliminary round was happening fairly early in the evening. But at least she wasn't doing it alone: Amy was a first-time entrant too and also nervous, while Kit, Allura, and Andy were veterans of the competition and did their best to reassure them that they'd have fun no matter what.

They all got dressed after dinner, and after entirely too much fussing, piled into cars and headed out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other songs in this chapter:  
> [Fat Cat Keeps Getting Fatter by The Squirrel Nut Zippers](https://open.spotify.com/track/3zKBJf5lSeLis8YmoQlJse)  
> [Lookin' Out My Back Door by Creedence Clearwater Revival](https://open.spotify.com/track/2WDMGUhTUQwOc5kquW1fHU)  
> [Oye Como Va by Santana](https://open.spotify.com/track/6ls1CRgRmqw9QHmBjKS2Qi)  
> [Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones](https://open.spotify.com/track/52dm9op3rbfAkc1LGXgipW)  
> [Airbag by Radiohead](https://open.spotify.com/track/3OsUjkcv1C1v5udFhgRSFg)


	12. Sing Sang Sung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sing Sang Sung by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band](https://open.spotify.com/track/1uocjplt5r7OfKMu3S0CoV)

Lance and Keith were a big bundle of nerves by the time Hunk got them to the dance. But they both looked good, in their coordinating subtly-striped shirts and black pants, and he knew they were ready to compete even though they were so anxious they'd barely eaten dinner.  Instead they'd fussed over Hunk for some reason, though his black polo shirt with khaki pants really didn't need any styling.  But they'd pulled his hair back as best they could, in a little knot on the back of his head; not all of it reached so there were strands falling all over, but they both proclaimed him  _hot_ so he didn't fight it.

When they arrived at the ballroom they all dropped their things in one spot, and then Lance and Keith hit the dance floor together. Hunk hung back, trying to see if Pidge was already there. He finally spotted her, dancing with Shiro, and everyone else who was staying at Andy's house was nearby, either dancing or just standing and chatting, and Hunk made his way over.

When he got close enough to actually see Pidge, he did a double take -- from a distance she'd looked like she was wearing her normal dancing outfit with that black t-shirt from last week, but ... she was wearing a skirt. It was tiny and fluttery and very bright, especially against her dark shirt and leggings, and she looked _incredible_ in it, the way it moved when she danced, how it flared out when Shiro spun her around and fluttered on her hips when she swiveled.

Someone nudged him, breaking him out of his trance -- it was Matt. "Cute, isn't she?"

Hunk didn't really know how to respond to that; the word _cute_ was wholly inadequate. "Yeah."

"She was nervous to wear it," Matt said. "She hasn't worn a skirt in forever, but we all ganged up on her to tell her how good she looks."

"From the bottom of my heart," Hunk said, setting his hand on Matt's shoulder, " _thank you._ "

"I do what I can, man."

The song finished; Matt waved at Shiro, who grinned and then turned Pidge around. She practically bounced with delight, and wove her way through the other dancers. "Hey," she said to Hunk, breathless. "You made it."

"Yeah, Lance took forever getting ready."

"I'm prepared to believe that. Did they get you all fancied up too?"

Hunk smiled and self-consciously tried to push some loose hair behind his ear.  "Yeah. You like it?"

"I really do, your hair is super cute like this. Dance with me?"

He let her take his hand, but he stayed where he was. "You sure? The Jack and Jill is in forty-five minutes, don't you want to take it easy?"

She rolled her eyes. "I _will_ , but I have to warm up first."

"So do you want me to follow for you?"

"Oh! Um." She shifted her weight side to side. "I was hoping you'd lead, actually. Well, how about let's do that first, and then switch?"

"Yeah, okay."

She tugged on his hand, and he went with her out onto the floor. "You look fantastic tonight, by the way," he said, letting his feet take them away.

"You mean this hair disaster?"

"Is it a disaster?"

She flipped her head, trying to get it off her face. "With all the rain today the humidity is absurd, so I turned into a frizz ball. I can't make it do anything."

"Blaming the weather, huh?"

"Shut up." She grinned at him and twisted her hips. "You like the skirt?"

"It's awesome. How long have you been holding out on me?"

"Hah! No, I just got it a couple weeks ago. I was saving it for tonight, for the Jack and Jill."

"It's really something. What color is it?"

"Green.  Like, really awful bright-ass green."

"Nice, I can definitely tell it's bright. Will you wear it for the class tomorrow?"

She laughed, and his heart fluttered. "I was hoping you'd ask me to."

He wanted to ask her why him liking the skirt was important to her, why she'd wanted him to ask her to wear it. But he didn't know how to say it, and he felt like he might know the answer. It seemed awfully presumptuous, but his heart was apparently very sure, even though his anxiety said it was impossible.

He just danced with her instead; nothing needed to be said. All he wanted in this moment was to be _alive_ with her, to take joy in her presence and in their motion together, to feel that same joy coming off of her. He had missed her; it had been a whole week since they'd last danced together. It felt like an eternity. And that awful misunderstanding with Shay had happened in between, though right now, on the dance floor with Pidge ... that didn't matter at all.

They lost themselves in the dance; the song ended, and he didn't let go, and when the next started they just kept going. When that one ended, Pidge shifted, changed their hands around so that she had her right arm around Hunk's back, forcing his left to try to find a spot to rest on her shoulder.

"I'm not sure if I like this," he said, and she held him a little tighter and smiled.

"I think you can get used to it."

The song was a favorite Basie tune, an easy one to dance, and Pidge turned out to be a pretty good lead despite Hunk's following difficulty. He had to duck when she spun him, and it was obviously very silly but it was also immense fun.

Pidge ended the song with a move that he really liked to use on her, although with their roles reversed it wasn't quite the same. She spun him under one arm and then pulled him back against her in a cuddle; normally when he did this she'd be against his chest and he could dip his face down by hers, but this time her face was in the middle of his back. He felt her smush her nose into his spine, then pulled him to the side so she could rest her cheek against his bicep.

He looked down and met her eye with a smile. "Cute."

"I know you are but what am I?"

He laughed, and she spun him out before she let him go. "You're going to be great in the Jack and Jill."

"God, yeah, that." Nervousness stole over her face. "How soon is that?"

Hunk pulled his phone out of his back pocket. "Twenty minutes."

"Fwoo. Okay." She ran her hand through her hair, though her fingers got a bit caught in the tangle of it. "All right, plan. I'm gonna hit the bathroom and then drink a bunch of water, and after that I want to watch you dance so I can steal some of your moves."

"You haven't stolen them already?"

"Don't tell me how to cram at the last minute."

He set his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Okay, you do what you're gonna do and I'll just keep dancing."

 

The twenty minutes were gone before he knew it, and Pidge joined the other entrants to pin on their numbers as the floor cleared for the competition. Hunk stood towards the back with Lance and Shiro, since they were tall enough to see over almost everyone, and Keith snuck to the front to sit with Matt.

Hunk had watched competitions that his friends were in before -- Lance and Keith had been doing them for a couple years now -- but something about watching Pidge do it was different. He was so tuned into her emotionally that he almost felt sick with nerves, watching her bounce on the balls of her feet and take careful breaths before it was time for her to go out with her first randomly-paired follow.

But god, could she _move!_ She clearly discovered after only a couple of eight-counts that her follow could take a lot, and their energy immediately jumped up to the next level, both of their skirts fluttering as they spun across the floor.

Hunk applauded and yelled with the rest of the crowd when she made her way back to the end of the line, and he felt kind of like he was floating from the adrenaline fizzing through him.

After another several pairs the round ended, partners changed, and Pidge's new follow was Allura, to both of their obvious delight. When it was their turn they absolutely tore it up, even hotter than Pidge's first round had been, and the audience's energy grew noticeably during their dance and only went up from there when the next pair came out with Andy in the lead.

The riotous timbre of the room was overwhelming, all-consuming, and it reminded Hunk why he had started dancing in the first place. To feel like this, with all of these people who felt the same and were overcome with the delight of Lindy hop, was the headiest thing in the world. And seeing Pidge out there, right in the epicenter of it, filled his heart to the point that he almost couldn't bear it.

He was entranced by her through the entire competition, and absolutely noticed when she pulled out moves that were favorites of his -- one of them wasn't perfectly smooth, but she sure looked good doing it, and it made her follows look amazing, which was the number one job of a good move. And she was obviously having the time of her life; her nerves had clearly left the building as soon as her feet had hit the dance floor. He knew the feeling.

The eventual end of the dancing was punctuated with a wild ovation, and Hunk applauded until his hands stung from it. Lance was jumping up and down beside him, whistling his enthusiasm while the competitors took their bows and then stepped back to wait awkwardly until the finalists were announced.

Pidge didn't make the cut. She didn't seem too upset about it, though Hunk couldn't help his heart sinking as he watched her congratulate Kit and Andy, who had made it through to the final tomorrow night.

He watched her as the crowd started to move again, saw Matt go right to her and start signing insanely fast while Pidge laughed. They both looked up when Hunk finally got close, and he got a pair of nearly-identical Holt grins. "Hey," Pidge said, breathless. "What'd you think?"

"You looked fantastic. Too bad you didn't make it through."

She shrugged. "I didn't expect to. It's exciting about Kit and Andy, though! I can't believe two of our friends are going to be in the final."

"This whole thing reminds me of the first time I came here," Matt said, and elbowed Hunk in the side. "That was the first time I met you, wasn't it? We were both in that 20s Charleston workshop."

How had Hunk forgotten? That was his junior year of college, before he'd even met Pidge and had no idea who Matt would eventually become to him. "Holy crap, yeah, I did meet you at Lindyfest. What was that, like, four years ago?"

"I don't even know, I was an undergrad so it was like thirteen-point-nine giga-years ago."

Pidge barked a laugh and draped herself on her brother's shoulder. "Everything's astrophys with you."

"Uh, everything _is_ astrophys."

"Well you're not _wrong_ ," Hunk said, and Pidge laughed again.

 

The prelims for the open Strictly happened not long after the Jack and Jill had wound up, which meant Lance and Keith were on. This time Hunk planned ahead and found himself a spot sitting on the floor way on the side, with Pidge beside him and Matt beside her, and Shiro and Allura not far away.

Sitting on the floor was definitely the perspective to have for the Strictly, because it seemed like everyone had prepared airsteps, which were definitely much more impressive from a low perspective. The first two pairs to go didn't do anything aerial, but then the third ones did, which seemed to break the seal. Lance and Keith were up fourth, and as soon as they skidded out onto the floor Hunk knew he was in for a treat. Keith was leading at first, and after just a couple basics he let Lance leap into the air on the turn of a swing out, and _damn_ that boy could jump!

Lance hit the ground with a flourish and a shriek of applause from the crowd, though he barely had time to catch his balance before Keith spun him into tandem Charleston. They moved like they were sharing the same brain, Lance matching Keith's little swivels and kicks even though he couldn't see them. He was even crouched down low enough that they were the same height, and it struck Hunk that this might have been a reason for the mirror in the living room too. After a bit Keith spun him and they moved back to Lindy hop, which they hammed up to absolutely ridiculous extremes, to the audible delight of the entire crowd.

Then their turn was up, and it was on to the next pair as Hunk's roommates went to the end of the queue, both looking delighted and visibly sweaty.

After a couple minutes of rotating through they took the floor again, and this time Lance was in the lead. They had obviously rehearsed the heck out of this, because Hunk recognized sequences of moves, and by the time they set up for their big aerial he was on the edge of his seat.

He wasn't even sure how it happened, it was so fast, but suddenly Keith rolled up over Lance's shoulders, and then flew into the air feet-first with an absolutely _tremendous_ amount of height. And then he landed like a cat, soft and graceful and with a pleased smile on his lips while the audience screamed for them. Lance let him hang out there for a couple of beats in a wide-open position, just holding the tension in their still-joined hands, before their dance continued.

The big aerial had clearly been the high point -- literally and figuratively -- of the competition for Lance and Keith, and by the time they finished they were clearly exhausted. They sort of sagged against each other as they watched the other competitors take their second turns on the floor, but despite the fact that they were obviously done, the energy of the room only continued to grow.

By the time the competition finished, Pidge and Matt were practically leaping to their feet with excitement, and Hunk was so inspired that it was a physical ache inside his chest, holding himself back from grabbing Pidge's hand and hitting the floor because _he just had to dance!_ But he did hold himself back, and the tension in the room mounted even further until the judges announced the finalists.

When they got to the end, Lance and Keith hadn't been mentioned -- they didn't make it. A look of distress crossed Keith's face, and Lance grabbed his hand, murmured something. They stood back, applauding for the pairs who had made it through.

And then people started getting up, and Pidge launched herself at her friends. Keith's reflexes kicked in and he caught her before she could bowl Lance over, and Hunk was still too far away to hear clearly but it definitely sounded like she was begging them to teach her that upside-down aerial, which brought a little pleased smile to Keith's lips.

Hunk and Matt joined them to offer their congratulations and condolences, with the rest of their friends right behind. Keith's upset was quickly evaporating in the flurry of excited activity around him; Lance seemed to be as tuned into this as Hunk was, and gave him a little look before he took Keith's hand.

"Dance with me, babe."

Keith's head whipped around, and he gave Lance a baffled look. "What, again?"

"Yes again. Also." He turned to Hunk and took his hand as well. "I want you both to dance with me."

Hunk laughed. "You're really jazzed up, aren't you?"

"Two follows?" Keith asked, still skeptical.

"Sure, I can make it work. Roommate triple play!"

"You're crazy," Hunk said, "but also I want to see this."

"Okay, come on." He pushed out from their knot of friends into an open space with Hunk and Keith in tow.

"Good luck!" Pidge called with a laugh.

Keith flipped her off, then looked at Lance, who was trying to figure out a position for the three of them. "You know a triple play means three guys are _out._ "

"Don't lecture me about baseball." He started into a basic, which Keith followed automatically, though Hunk spent a moment confused about directions before he fell into the groove.

After a few eight-counts Keith shuffled even closer to him and hooked their arms. "This work?"

"Only if you don't mind me fucking you up."

Keith laughed.  "I can cope."

The dance itself did turn out to be something of a mess, but they had a good time, and it was definitely silly in the best way. As a bonus, Hunk felt like he actually learned something about following by being so close to Keith and seeing how he responded to Lance. It meant that he tripped on his toes a couple times because he wasn't paying attention to himself, but it was worth it.

When the song ended, Lance seemed to think about trying to dip them, but couldn't come up with a solution to the three-body problem in time. Keith back-led himself into a cute little cuddle and gave Lance a kiss, and then ducked under his arm and headed off, probably to find some of their other friends.

Lance turned to Hunk. "Dance one more with me?"

"Man, you _are_ hyped up. You're not gonna make me follow again, are you?"

Lance grinned. "No, I'm gonna make you lead. After all this I could use a dance where I don't have to think."

"Okay, but no back-leading."

He laughed and let Hunk take him into closed position. "I'll try."

It was a laid-back song and an easy dance, and although Lance _did_ seem like he was trying to back-lead now and then, he always stopped when Hunk got firm with his signals, using his arms to say _that's not what I'm doing!_ As the dance went on Lance seemed to let go of the last of his tension, he became relaxed and heavy which added a different type of difficulty to Hunk's leading -- it was time to turn up the heat.

He lead Lance in three swing-outs in a row, building up the energy in each one, and ended the fourth with a Texas Tommy with extra turns on the end of it, spinning Lance several times before bringing hi--

Something blue and hard hit him smack in the face at high velocity.

"Oh shit!" Lance said, and everything was way too loud. "Dude, I'm so sorry!"

Hunk's head was spinning; he couldn't see straight and he felt a little like he was about to fall over. Strong arms wrapped around his shoulder and his side, and he grabbed at Lance's shirt with one hand while the other automatically moved to cover his nose. "Fuck, Hunk, are you okay?"

"What happened?" he managed.

"I got you in the face with my elbow, I'm really sorry."

"'S okay." The room gradually stopped tilting, and Lance came into focus in front of him, looking concerned.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two. I'm okay, just stunned." The pain of the blow had made his eyes water though, and he sniffed and wiped his nose gingerly with the back of his hand.

"Woah, woah, stop." Lance produced a tissue from somewhere and held it to his nose. "You're bleeding. We need to go sit down."

"I'm buh--" He looked down at the smear of red on his hand, and the room spun again, turning his stomach. _Of all the times and places to suddenly have a freakout about blood...._

Lance led him off the dance floor to the nearest available chair, where he sat down hard and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, trying to keep his breathing even while Lance held the tissue to his nose.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Lance murmured.

Hunk couldn't answer, he was too busy trying not to gag. He took the tissue from Lance and breathed as carefully as he could, and Lance put his hand on his shoulder, rubbing gently.

Several minutes passed, and a bit after the song ended he heard familiar Holt voices, blending as they spoke over each other into a mess of Wisconsin vowels and sharp worry.

"Woah, what happened?"

"Holy shit, Hunk? Is he okay? Are you okay? What happened?"

He picked his head up, still holding the tissue to his face. To his relief, the room didn't move. "Lance elbowed me in the nose," he said, and it came out as a mumble.

"It was an accident," Lance protested. "He was spinning me and I lost control a little."

Matt looked lost for a moment, grabbed Pidge's arm; she signed to him quickly before she pushed forward into Hunk's personal space, and it was an unexpected relief to finally have her at his side. She ran her hand down his back in a comforting way, wrapped it around his waist. "Are you all right?"

"I will be," he said, looking at her and trying to smile. "I'm just dazed, and the blood freaked me out."

Her face split into a bittersweet grin. "You and your thing about blood."

"I know."

"I think the bleeding has probably stopped now," Lance said. "We should go clean you up."

"I want to wait," Hunk said. "Give it a few more minutes, make sure it really stopped." He also wanted to keep sitting with Pidge here at his side -- she wasn't going to follow them into the men's room, and he wasn't ready to give up the comfort she brought just yet.

"Okay," Lance said, though he seemed hesitant. "I just ... I want to get a look at it. Make sure it's not serious."

"I don't think it's broken or anything, you didn't hit me that hard." He took his other hand and gingerly felt the bridge of his nose -- it was tender, but not overly painful. "It doesn't hurt that bad. just a bruise, probably."

"Oh fuck, what happened?" Keith said, suddenly coming upon them.

"Your boyfriend elbowed me in the face," Hunk said.

Keith let out a laugh before he stifled himself. "Was he following?"

"Yeah," Hunk said, and Lance stiffened as he turned to Keith.

"What do you mean, was I following?"

"Come on, you know exactly what I mean. Sometimes if you're trying not to back-lead you lose control a little bit and then you're all gangly." He leaned around Lance to look at Hunk. "I've almost taken an elbow to the face lots of times, don't feel too bad. You didn't realize you had to dodge."

"Keith..." Lance whined, and Keith laughed again and put his fingers through Lance's belt loop, pulling him close.

"Shut up." He brushed a kiss to Lance's chin. "You know you're a danger to everyone when you dance, but you're really good so we don't care."

"I still feel shitty that I hurt Hunk."

"Hunk will be fine. Won't you, big guy?"

Hunk gave him a thumbs-up, and leaned into Pidge just a little. She ran her hand up and down his side.

"You're really all right?" she murmured.

"I am. I'm doing lots better now, I'm not dizzy any more. I'll be fine for tomorrow."

A breathy laugh burst out of her. "God, I wasn't even thinking about the class. I was just worried about _you_."

His heart warmed, and he pressed into Pidge a little harder. "I'm okay. You don't have to worry."

"Well, I'm going to anyway. It's how I am." She was quiet for a minute before she moved to stand up. "I'll be right back, I'm going to get something to clean the blood off your hand."

Hunk glanced down, and then wished he hadn't. "Okay."

She disappeared towards the back of the room, and came back a few seconds later with a little pack of tissues. She pulled one out, then licked it and took Hunk's hand.

"Ugh, Pidge," Matt groaned. "You're turning into Mom."

"Matthew Judah Holt, you watch your tone. You know perfectly well that saliva has enzymes that remove blood better than anything." She wiped at Hunk's hand, and he carefully watched her face instead.

"You do sound sort of like your mom," he said, and she made eye contact briefly before returning her attention to his hand with a little smile.

"Yeah, well. Sometimes I try."

"You'll probably turn into her one day."

"Would that be so bad?"

"No, not at all, your mom is great."

"You're all set here," she said, releasing his hand delicately. "I mean, probably. It's pretty dark in here. But I think I got it."

"Thank you."

"You ready to have Lance have a look at your face?"

Hunk sighed -- he really wished Pidge could be the one to take care of him, but it did have to be Lance, for multiple reasons. "I guess so. It's probably stopped bleeding now."

"I don't think there was all that much." She was peering at the tissue that he still held to his nose. "It barely soaked into the tissue, I'm sure it won't be a big deal."

"Okay." He sat up, which got Lance's attention. "Let's go, roomie. You can atone for injuring me by cleaning me up."

"Are you gonna be okay with the blood?"

Hunk shrugged. "Don't let me look in the mirror, maybe."

Lance winced, though he clearly tried to suppress it. "Are you gonna yak on me?"

"I'll try not to?"

Lance sighed. "Good enough. Come on."

 

Matt sat with Pidge while Lance took Hunk to the bathroom to wash the blood off his face. Pidge had a hard time sitting still -- this whole incident, as benign as it was, had upset her in a disproportionate way. It was just a bloody nose, and yeah, the sight of blood made Hunk feel sick, but Lance was taking care of him and there wouldn't be any lasting ill effects. Nevertheless, she was deeply uneasy, she just wanted to ... to take him where she knew he'd be safe, where she could look out for him. It was a drive she'd never felt before and she didn't know what to do with it.

Matt nudged her, and when she turned he signed at her. _He's not hurt bad._

_I know_. "I'm worried anyway."

_Because you love him._

_Yes_. "Of course because that."

"You should tell him now. He wants you to. He's ready to hear it."

Pidge's face had been warm ever since she saw something was wrong with Hunk, and it suddenly got unbearably hot. She covered her burning cheeks with her hands. "I can't. Not now."

"Why?"

"I just can't. It ... I don't want to do it because something _made_ me. Like because he got hurt."

"Oh." _I understand._

_I love him because I love him,_ she signed. _I'll tell tomorrow only that._ "When it's just him, not any ... circumstances."

"I gotcha," Matt said, and leaned into her, pressing their shoulders together. "I won't be a brat about it any more."

"You're not a brat."

"Shut up, I'm your brother, I have to be." He stood up and offered his hand. "Come dance with me. You've got that cute skirt, it deserves to be showed off."

Pidge smiled, despite herself, and took her brother's hand. "Yeah, all right."

"Promise you won't break my nose?"

She laughed. "No promises."

 

Pidge danced two songs with Matt before Hunk and Lance returned. Hunk met her eye immediately and smiled -- he was clearly back to himself, and the tension she hadn't realized was tightening her chest suddenly let go. Matt released her, and she cut across the dance floor to Hunk. "You okay?"

"Yeah, Lance got me sorted out. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. _Pidge_." He pulled her into a one-armed hug, and she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm fine, I promise."

"Are you fine enough to dance?"

He hesitated, and she felt pleased with herself for noticing: even a minor injury takes a lot out of a person. "Well, for a while. I feel like I might have to turn in earlier than I'd planned."

"Aww."

"Lance's fault."

"Yeah, I know, I'll kick his ass later." She sighed. "I should probably not stay up all night anyway, have to be good for our class tomorrow."

He rubbed her shoulder. "Let's worry about that later. Dance with me?"

She tipped her head up to smile at him. "Yeah."

 


	13. Misty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Misty by Steve Turre](https://open.spotify.com/track/1vAtFFyaRrVGSoN8QRmzm4)

Pidge woke up before dawn on Saturday morning to the sound of yet more rain coming down, and a dark figure who she assumed was Andy going around and quietly closing windows.

When she woke up again hours later, it was still raining, but going by the light already mid-morning and there was quiet conversation coming from the direction of the kitchen. She rolled over carefully on her yoga mats to look around the room: the couch where Shiro had slept was simply a couch again, but her brother was still out cold next to her on the floor, and wheezing slightly into his pillow.

The sound that had woken her up happened again: it was Hunk's text tone. His used to be the same as all her other dance friends, but the day that he'd accepted her invitation to the Holt family's Passover seder she had changed it. Now instead of the " _it don't mean a thing"_ whistle from _Swing Kids_ , it was the opening riff from "Damn Right I Got the Blues." In the months leading up to Lindyfest she'd become very familiar with Buddy Guy, which was entirely Hunk's doing, so it seemed appropriate to associate them in her phone.

She struggled out of her sleeping bag -- it had been too warm, so it was damp with her sweat -- and she crawled around Matt's feet, over to where their phones were plugged into the wall. She unplugged it and sat back, rubbing her eyes before she tried to read it.

_Good morning! You up yet?_

She groaned and set the phone down so she could rub her face with both hands. Hunk had left the dance at a quarter to midnight, but Pidge had let Matt talk her into going to the late-night party, and she'd been out until two. Her phone now said it was five after ten.

She picked it back up. _I am now_

_Omg did I wake you up_

_Yeah but it's okay my alarm was going to go off in ten minutes anyway_

_How late were you out?_

_Too damn late. But it was fun._

_That's good. I'm glad I turned in early._

_How are you feeling today?_

_Lots better. Sleeping did the trick. And my nose doesn't hurt any more though I had some scary boogers in the shower this morning_

Pidge laughed out loud, and grinned at her phone. _Nice_

_Not really but yeah_

_I guess I should start getting ready.  Eat something._

_Yeah probably. I'll pick you up at one?_

_Sounds good. See you then_. She put the phone down with a little sigh; she didn't want to have to be a real person today, but she was looking forward to doing the class with him.

She crawled back around to Matt's other side so he was facing her, and shook his shoulder gently. He grumbled, so she shook him again, and finally he wrenched his eyes open.

 _Good morning_ , she signed, and he groaned and turned his face into the pillow.

Pidge shook him again, and he rolled back a little before he pushed the sleeping bag off himself and sat up. _Time?_

She held up her phone, and he squinted at it before rubbing his hands over his face with a sigh.

 _I'm going to shower_ , she signed, and he gave her an odd look before he laughed.

"You mean shower," he said, a bit too loud since he couldn't hear himself, and doing a different sign than the one Pidge had used.

"What did I say?"

He pointed at the window. "Rain."

"Same difference."

He laughed again. "Go. You smell."

She signed _bitch_ at him with a grin as she climbed to her feet and tried to remember where she'd put all her stuff the previous day. Her bag was crammed into the corner, and she dug through it to find her towel and shower things before she headed up the stairs.

When she was clean she changed straightaway into her dancing clothes, a nearly-identical outfit to the one from the night before though with a clean shirt and different leggings, because she had worked up a heck of a sweat. Luckily she had anticipated that when she'd packed for the weekend, and even though she felt like she'd brought too much stuff she really did need a completely clean outfit for every dance, right down to the underwear.

Luckily that little green skirt was an outer layer, and she didn't think it had picked up any smell. She pulled it on when she got back downstairs, then went to join everyone else in the kitchen and get herself some breakfast -- or maybe by now it was lunch?  In any case, she had a big afternoon of dancing ahead of her and definitely needed the energy.  Starting with coffee.

 

 

Hunk arrived a little earlier than he said he would, and he came in from the rain for a few minutes while Amy got her things together.

Their class -- technically a workshop, she supposed -- was happening in some kind of a school gym, and when they arrived Hunk immediately went into organizer mode, talking to the people he needed to talk to and getting everything set up. Amy and Pidge mostly just watched him while he made sure the sound system worked, and finally looked over at them with a hesitant smile. "Well, I think we're ready."

Amy checked her watch. "We're still twenty minutes early."

"To be early is to be on time," Pidge said in an important tone of voice, and Hunk laughed as he crossed the room to them.

"Marching band, right?"

"Yup. To be on time is to be late, and to be late is to be dead."

"By the transitive property, that means that to be early is to be dead."

Amy made a disgusted noise, but she was smiling broadly as she rolled her eyes.

A cluster of students arrived only a few minutes later, and by the time they were ready to start they had amassed a pretty good crowd.

"How does this compare to last year?" Pidge asked him.

"About the same. Should be a good group." Then he shooed Amy to join the other students, and took a deep breath that was clearly meant to be steadying, though it didn't seem to do the job.

Pidge put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's do it."

He smiled at her, warm and gentle, and walked to the center of the group with something that definitely looked like confidence.

"Hi everyone!"

They all called it back at him, and he turned around, smiling, and gestured to Pidge. "So we're all here for drag blues 101, right?"

There was another round of agreement as Pidge joined him in the middle of the circle that had formed.

"So my name is Hunk, and this is Pidge, she'll be helping me out today. First thing I'm going to need you to do is organize yourselves by leads and follows, remembering that gender doesn't determine your role in the dance."

He got the students to arrange themselves and pair up, and they did have a few more follows than leads, but it wasn't too bad. Next he asked them to show him their closed positions, and many of them already knew it, which was a good sign. The rest caught on quickly, and Hunk took Pidge around to demonstrate the usual tension in closed position, how they leaned slightly out from one another and he could use that pressure of his hand on her back to move her around. After they'd made half a circuit he turned her out in a little spin, and she went to coach a couple of pairs who seemed to be struggling while he did the same with a couple of others. Then he had the follows rotate, and everybody practiced again, feeling the tension in the connection. When Hunk was happy with that, he beckoned Pidge back to the middle of the circle.

"So we start with closed position like normal." He put his hand in the middle of Pidge's back, and she laid her arm on top of his; their other hands were free, hanging at their sides. "But in order to really get the drag aspect, we need a lot more connection than this." He pulled Pidge close, and she relaxed into him, perfectly; he turned them around slowly so the class could see. "This is why it's called drag blues. Look at this connection. I'm actually taking her weight here, with my torso and my hip, and she's holding herself up with her arm on my shoulder."

Pidge let go with her hand long enough to wave, and there were scattered giggles.

"So when I'm moving us," Hunk continued, "I'm really leading with my hips and torso, which means we have a lot of stability. That allows me to do things like this." He took a few quick steps backwards, then around in a circle; leaned to his right and then his left, bringing Pidge into a subtle dip. "All she has to do is feel the motion and keep her feet underneath her."

The class watched attentively as he brought her back up, then moved around in closed for a little bit more. "The full-body connection is really vital," Hunk said. "Without that you're going to have a tough time communicating and moving as one. And that's important because we're so close that otherwise we'd trip on each other, if we couldn't feel one another's legs."

A couple of people giggled and nodded -- obviously victims of minor dance accidents. Pidge had herself been involved in tripping incidents in the past, both as the one who fell (slightly painful) and as the one who stayed standing (very embarrassing). But mostly she thought of Hunk last night, about his injury--

But she stopped thinking about that when the leg between her thighs flexed. "Now you'll notice," he said, his voice a little gentler, like he wasn't sure he wanted to share this with all these strangers. "I mentioned our legs. My right leg is between hers, and her right leg is between mine. You're going to get _very_ up close and personal with your partner." There were scattered chuckles from the students. "She can feel exactly how I'm stepping, so her job is to keep her legs by mine and we move together. Even if I'm not keeping a rhythm, like we do in Lindy hop. In drag blues I can pause, stretch things out, and she still moves with me."

And move they did, another few steps, turning in a circle so everyone could see them from all angles.

"Right, now, leads," Hunk said, relaxing his grip on Pidge. "You're up, show me what you got for the drag position. Follows, pay attention, give your lead the weight they can take, which may not be all of it. Be attentive to your partner. I know basically none of you are me and Pidge."

That got a good laugh, and Pidge met his eye with a smile.  She had no doubt that he could bench press her if he wanted to.

They spent a couple minutes going around the circle to check everyone, then had the follows rotate again. Hunk picked a girl who was almost as tall as he was to demonstrate the position one more time, and Pidge helped her get it right, give him enough of her weight so that he could control their movement, swaying gently back and forth, even taking a few steps.

It was a little weird to see him doing that with a stranger, especially one who seemed super charmed by him. But he released her after only a minute, and though she was blushing when she went back to her spot, Hunk seemed unperturbed -- he was just teaching.

To call it _just_ teaching was to do him an immense disservice, though; he really was a magnificent instructor. Pidge had never learned from him in a group setting like this, he'd taught her blues one-on-one, so she didn't really know what to expect from him running a classroom. But he seemed to be really good at it, in defiance of what he'd told her about being nervous about the TA position he was going to have at Northwestern in the fall. If he was anything like as good with engineering students as he was with dance students, he had nothing to worry about at all.

The class continued for another half hour; once the students had the basic closed position down progressing to simple moves, and finally a couple more complex ones.  When they had twenty minutes left Hunk had Pidge start the music so the students could practice actually dancing with one another. He jumped into the mix too, making up for the dearth of leads, though Pidge stayed to the side, just watching it all happen.

At one point he called to her, and she descended into the mix. He had her demonstrate the closed position again, and showed off some more advanced drag moves where he practically tossed her around like she weighed nothing, and finished up with a particularly flashy spin, finally catching her momentum with his big hand on her back, though her heart continued to pound inside her chest while the students tried it out themselves.

She went back by the sound system again after that, still watching him lead and teach and obviously have a great time. Eventually their time was up, and the students started to put their shoes on and leave. But Hunk was clearly still in the groove, and she kept watching as he chatted with some of their students who hung behind. She loved how he talked with his hands, how passionate he was about dancing, and then got in there and actually demonstrated the move with the follow for a moment before he released her back to the lead she'd come with.

"Hey," Amy said, and Pidge jumped.

"Oh. Hey."

"That was a great class. You guys were phenomenal."

Pidge wanted to feel modest, but she knew perfectly well exactly how great they had been. "Thanks."

Amy leaned close and lowered her voice. "Everybody thinks you're a couple."

That was enough to make Pidge start to blush. "Not yet."

"Soon?"

Pidge nodded. "I sure hope so."

"You _hope?_ "

"Man, Amy, can a girl catch a break? I'm gonna--" She stopped, lowered her voice. "I'm gonna tell him how I feel tonight. It's up to him what happens after that."

"I know, I know." Amy draped one arm over Pidge's shoulder and leaned on her, which was a classic Shay move and made Pidge feel a little more centered. "We're just all pulling for you, you know? I can't imagine that you guys would be anything but fantastic together."

"I know." Pidge let Amy keep leaning on her as they watched Hunk wrap up with his students.

When he finally joined them, he looked happy but exhausted, and his t-shirt had developed a couple of sweat spots. "Well. What'd you guys think?"

"You were amazing," Pidge said softly, smiling at him and getting that huge grin of his in return.

"Amazing? Really?"

Pidge shrugged one shoulder. "Not that I'm surprised, but yeah."

"It was fantastic," Amy said. "I learned like, three times as much as I thought I would."

Hunk blew out a relieved breath. "I'm glad we were effective."

"Totally."

"Unrelated," Pidge said, "I think the rain might have stopped, so this humidity might be about to let up. I need a shower something _bad._ "

Amy laughed, and Hunk brushed Pidge's arm with his as he leaned over to unplug his phone from the sound system. "I hear you. I'll get you back to Andy's so you can both rest up for the dance tonight."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other music in this chapter:  
> [Damn Right I Got the Blues by Buddy Guy](https://open.spotify.com/track/2FtX5tOFUVOyjcGQiuGR8f)
> 
> Full disclosure from the author: I have learned and danced drag blues as a follow, but I don't hold any illusions that I'm good enough to teach. Apologies if anything in the class portion is wrong or weird, it's been a long time.


	14. The Way You Look Tonight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The Way You Look Tonight by Beegie Adair](https://open.spotify.com/track/4RR9Ao56oHXuBDFtkcSIEp)

_Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm_  
_And your cheeks so soft_  
_There is nothing for me but to love you  
_ _And the way you look tonight_

 

 

When Pidge and Amy got back from the class, Allura was lounging on Andy's couch with Shiro, who had his prosthetic arm set on the coffee table and appeared to be trying to nap. Allura sat up eagerly when they came in, jostling Shiro. "Hey! How'd it go?"

Pidge knew she didn't mean whether the students learned anything. "Great."

Allura beamed. "You still gonna tell him at the social dance tonight?"

Pidge took a deep breath, and amazingly felt sure of herself. "Yeah."

"Tell who what?" Shiro asked groggily.

Allura ignored him. "Can I do your hair to complete your look with the dress?"

"What? Do it how?"

"Pin curls!"

"Ooh, yeah!" Amy chimed in. "I'll totally help. I've got about three hundred bobby pins."

"I -- I guess so." Pidge wasn't sure she liked this idea, it sounded like a production. "Will it take long?"

"Oh no," Allura said dismissively. "Have a shower, and it'll take me maybe ten minutes to pin it up, and then we just take the pins out and fluff it right before we go. There's plenty of time for it to set."

"I've got curl creme too," Amy said. "I'm pretty sure your hair is almost the same texture as mine, this'll make it look great. Smooth out the frizz."

Amy's hair always looked amazing, curly and sleek and never unmanageable, which was enough incentive for Pidge to overcome her reluctance to use products, if only for today. "Yeah, okay. I'll do it for you guys."

Amy and Allura made identical squeeing sounds, and Allura clapped her hands. "Okay, go shower quick and we'll do your hair."

 

 

Hunk arrived at the social dance with Keith and Lance about ten minutes after it had started, and regretted a little bit that they had spent so long getting ready: the party was already in full swing, with almost everybody on the dance floor. He recognized Pidge's backpack with its big Apollo 11 patch under one of the chairs in a corner on the other side of the room from the band, and dropped his own bag there as well before he traded his street shoes for dancing shoes.

He scanned the crowd of dancers, trying to find Pidge. She had been so unbelievably good in the class, and he'd been too overwhelmed by everything at the time to really tell her so before they left afterwards, plus Amy was there and while Amy was a good friend, it wouldn't do for her to be right there when he had such a personal talk with Pidge. But he'd had hours since then, plenty of time to take his vague plan to _tell her after the class_ and turn it into something concrete enough to be sure he would actually do it.

It wasn't just about the class, though that was when it had hit him that he _needed_ to say the rest of this to her. He had to be sure she knew, and he couldn't go any longer without telling her.

Pidge wasn't just the best follow he knew, not just the best dancing partner. She was the best _person_ he knew, guy or girl or enby, or however she identified. She was the best friend he had ever had, and he needed her to know that she was absolutely _everything_ to him.

He didn't know why it wasn't this obvious to him before, why it hadn't been obvious for a long time, although it seemed to be to everyone else -- Lance and Keith had seen it months ago, and Shay clearly knew too, and they'd all been trying to convince him to just let himself love her the way he wanted to. And something about today finally pushed him all the way there, over that last little shred of self-doubt that evaporated in the humid air of the gym where they'd taught in the afternoon.

He was in love with her. His whole heart knew it now, without any reservations, and he was determined to tell her so. As soon as he could get her sort-of alone.

He was having trouble spotting her, though that was always a problem with short friends at crowded dances. But he found Matt, and sure enough, Pidge was dancing with her brother.

Hunk couldn't see her well, just glimpses through the crowd, but she looked different somehow. She was wearing something that fluttered around her, and her hair looked sleek and shiny and put-together, instead of its usual mad scientist fluff.

Matt spotted Hunk a minute later, and when the song ended he let Pidge hug him, then led her over to where Hunk was still standing, feeling a bit dumbstruck.

"Hey, man," Matt said. "Looking for my sister?"

It took him a second to figure out how to speak. "Yeah."

Matt dropped Pidge's hand with a smirk and slipped away with just a quick sign to her, leaving the two of them together.

Hunk knew he was staring, and he felt like maybe he shouldn't be, but he couldn't exactly help it.

Pidge was -- she was _radiant_. She was completely gorgeous. The fluttering he'd seen was a sleeveless dress in lovely swirling blues -- at least he thought it was blue, sometimes he couldn't tell -- with white spots like stars, that fit her torso closely and then flared out in a full skirt that hit her just above the knees. It showed off her broad shoulders and trim waist, and it gave her that motion in her hips that she'd lamented not having those weeks ago in his living room. Even more so than that skirt she'd worn last night and this afternoon; that was very cute, but this was a level above.

And then there was her hair -- somebody had obviously done it for her, likely Allura if he had to guess. It surrounded her head in distinct, shiny curls; the style reminded him really strongly of the 1930s and he was sure that was no accident. The way it framed her face was ... it wasn't exactly like seeing her for the first time, but it made it easy to see exactly how beautiful she really was.

After a long minute he finally found his voice. "You look amazing."

"Thanks," she said, smiling, and apparently not able to take her eyes off him either. "You look fantastic too, your whole outfit is ... you look fantastic in this. Is it new?"

"It is, yeah, partly. Keith helped me pick out the shirt and tie to go with the vest and pants I already had." The vest and pants were solid black, and Keith had chosen a gold shirt with dark pinstripes and a bright white bow tie. Hunk had rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, and finished the look with his favorite black and white wingtips, even though they weren't the most comfortable dancing shoes he owned.

"Keith has a great eye."

"He does." He took half a step back from her, still trying to take it all in. "Wow, I ... I didn't know you could look this way."

She grinned and dropped her eyes to her shoes, suddenly bashful. "What, like a girl?"

"I meant ... feminine. Beautiful." He stepped forward and took her hand gently, hoping that touching her would help him speak. "Did you do this for me?"

She smiled even bigger and shook her head, making her curls bounce. "A little bit. Mostly it was just because I felt like it. Trying out the femme thing again."

"Well, I love it." He squeezed her hand. "You look fantastic, and the way it moves when you dance is ... yeah."

"That's why I got it." She swayed her hips and the skirt swished around her legs.

"You keep surprising me this weekend. The little skirt yesterday, and now this."

"Good surprises, I hope?"

"God yes. The best."

She beamed and held out her other hand. "Will you dance with me?"

"Oh yeah." It was not the smoothest thing he'd ever said; it was the first thing that popped out of his mouth, over-eager, but Pidge seemed to like it, and he let her lead him out onto the dance floor.

They danced like the band was playing just for them. Hunk knew it probably wasn't the most interesting dance he'd ever led, but he was still so awestruck by how incredible Pidge looked, and how she'd apparently done this at least partly for _him,_ that all he could do was just enjoy the music with her. For her part, she barely took her eyes off him, and never lost that slightly-dazed smile, except when it grew into a proper grin when he surprised her by twirling her into closed position.

When the song ended he dipped her, just a little one, and she kept her arms around his neck even after they stood up. She was so close that he could smell her, that light scent of sweat and deodorant that he'd become accustomed to during their weeks of practicing, and years of social dancing.

"Can we talk?" she breathed.

He nodded, his hands still around her waist. "Sure. Go sit down?"

"Yeah." She brought her arms down, and he took her hand, and they walked to the chairs where they'd both dropped their things in the far corner of the ballroom. Even in this strange place, and arriving separately, they'd managed to find their own spot together. He'd done it without even thinking whether he should, it was just the obvious thing to do.

Hunk thought maybe he ought to be nervous -- whenever somebody said they wanted to talk, it was always something big and important and it was very easy to immediately believe it was bad. But he'd become so good at reading Pidge, he couldn't be afraid. She was sure, she was quietly happy, and if his heart was pounding it was only because he adored her so much and she was taking him to what passed for a quiet corner here. It was exactly the opportunity he'd been looking for, but something told him she was about to get there first.

She perched on the edge of the chair and turned to face him, and set her hands on his knee. He let his hand drift closer, brushing her fingers with his.

"So," she said.

"Yeah."

"Okay, so this is less of a talk, and more I want to tell you something."

His heart gave a big _thump._ "Okay."

She took a deep breath and licked her lips, and then hesitated. "Sorry, I've got a smudge." She pulled her glasses off, and looked like she considered polishing them with her dress for a moment before she stopped. She folded them up in her hand, then bit her lips briefly and looked up at Hunk. They were close enough that he knew she could see him clearly, even without the glasses; in this light her eyes were bottomless, warm and sublime and eternal, and it would have been so easy to fall into them.

"So, the thing I need to tell you." She moved her hand so that it was touching his, and took a breath. "I'm in love with you. I have been for a while now."

He felt like he should probably say something, but his voice was frozen -- this wasn't really a surprise, though his heart was reacting like it was. After a long beat of simply holding eye contact, watching her wait nervously for his response, he let loose the smile that was building, took her cheek in his palm, and kissed her.

She pressed back into him instantly, leaning into the kiss and tightening her grip on his knee. _She was kissing him back_ and her lips were soft and firm and she tasted vaguely like wintergreen.

 _This_ was what he had been waiting for, this was what he'd been _missing_ all those months. He could have Pidge. He _did_ have Pidge, and she absolutely wanted him too.

They parted slowly, and Pidge looked at him with sleepy eyes and a huge smile. "I should have said that ages ago."

He let out a little laugh. "Yeah, maybe. I could have done it, too, though. I was about to, if you hadn't."

She stretched up, and he took her hint, bending down to kiss her again and wrapping her up in his arms. He kissed her like she was the only thing in the world he cared about, and it may even have been true, though he certainly wasn't going to devote the CPU time to thinking about that one right now because Pidge was in his arms and her lips were on his and it seemed almost like she was trying to crawl into his lap, though she wasn't having a very good time of it.

They finally broke apart for air. "I love you," Hunk said, and Pidge's eyes glistened with moisture as she grinned dazedly up at him. "I wanted to tell you after the class today, but I was too all over the place. I love you so much."

"God, I love you too," she murmured. "I know I already said that, but I've spent months not saying it so I have to let it all out now that I can."

"Say it as much as you want. I'm going to keep saying it too."

"Good." She sighed and shifted, turning to face more forwards instead of toward him, and pressed her shoulder into his. "Fuck, how long have we been not doing this?"

"It doesn't matter." He put his arm around her shoulders, and she crossed her legs and leaned into his chest. "We spent a long time almost doing this, and honestly I really enjoyed spending all that time with you, even if there wasn't any kissing."

"I did too. I really loved it, and I would have loved it the same even if this never happened."

He held her to him softly, and took a deep breath. "I want to tell you about last Saturday, when I had dinner with Shay."

She nodded, and leaned her cheek against his shoulder. He took this as encouragement to continue.

"I know what you must have thought, and Shay felt really bad that things happened the way they did that evening, that you ran into me."

"I know," Pidge said. "She told me so afterwards."

"What else did she tell you?"

"Nothing, really. Only that she'd asked you over to clear the air, and it wasn't about her getting back together with you, but she was leaving it to you to actually talk to me about it."

"She was totally playing me," Hunk huffed, in a way that held fondness underneath his frustration. "She knew I'd hate myself if I let you hurt because you thought the wrong thing about us seeing each other that evening."

"She kind of knows everything, doesn't she."

"She knows both of us really well. And that was kind of her thesis, when I was there with her. She said she knew you were into me but too chicken to do anything, and she knew that I was into you, and she'd invited me over to beg me to actually do something about it."

"She's been doing the same to me for a while," Pidge said, glancing up at him. "She got through to me finally when we went shopping and I bought this." She plucked at the skirt of her dress. "I decided I'd tell you here."

"Lance and Keith have been on me for a while too," Hunk said. "I told them I was worried about what Shay would think if I were to pursue you, and apparently Lance talked to her which is why she set up that thing with me. After I got the casserole in the oven she sat me down at the table and told me it was an intervention."

Pidge laughed, and leaned a little heavier into him. "Oh, man. She would."

Hunk couldn't help smiling, both at Pidge's amusement, and at the memory of Shay's earnestness. "So she was being all secretive with you because she was playing matchmaker. She wanted to get me alone to tell me that she wanted you and me together, that she didn't want her history with me to get in the way of that."

"She's too good." Pidge shook her head gently, rubbing her curls against Hunk's shoulder. "So that was it? That was your whole evening?"

"Well, that was the _point_ of the evening, but I got my talking-to and we hashed it out in half an hour and I promised her I would let myself be over her and that I would tell you how I felt. Then we ate and played Bananagrams until it got late, and you were still out so I went home."

"Did she destroy you at Bananagrams?"

"Of course she did. I'm an engineer."

Pidge giggled. "I don't play with her any more. I'm so bad at it." She sat up a little, and Hunk let her go reluctantly. She reached under the chair for a moment, and came back up with her sweatshirt. "Sorry. I really do need to clean my glasses. I'll start falling asleep if I keep them off."

"You fall _asleep_ when you have them off?"

"Yup. Everything except what's close gets blurry, and then I get sleepy." She breathed on a lens and started polishing. "It was kind of nice when I was talking with you just now, made it feel like we were kind of alone."

"Even though there's a gajillion people here and it's really noisy."

"Yeah."

"Why don't we ... um." He tried to will away the nervous tremble in his chest. "Why don't you keep them off a little longer? Keep pretending we're alone."

She looked up at him with a sly smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds good to me." She set the glasses down, then slid her hand around the back of his neck and kissed him again.

 


	15. Bei Mir Bist Du Schön

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Bei Mir Bist Du Schön by Janis Siegel (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWvuB1vSsAc)

_בײַ מיר ביסטו גוט_  
_"בייַ מיר האָסטו "_ _איט_ _  
_ _בײַ מיר ביסטו טײַערער דען געלט_

 _I've tried to explain_  
_Bei mir bist du schön  
_ _So kiss me and say you understand_

 

Pidge kissed Hunk in the back of the room with the dance going on around them for much longer than her sense of decency said she ought to, but she was of the opinion that her sense of decency had absolutely no jurisdiction here. Not when she finally had her lips on Hunk's after months and months of wanting him. To say nothing of his arms around her back and his tongue in her mouth, which her decency found _very_ inappropriate. But she didn't care, and wasn't this sort of thing what jazz was all about?

She didn't really have the mental capacity to figure out whether that was true or not, because the things Hunk was doing to her were _supremely_ distracting.

He was the one who pulled away first, leaning his forehead against hers and breathing heavily and holding her back just a little, gently and firmly enough to tell her to give him a little space. They stayed like that for several long breaths, until he pulled away fully. "I really want to dance with you," he breathed.

"I could dance."

"Cool." He kissed her again, quickly but with a lingering quality, then sat back and stood up, offering his hand.

Pidge had to take a moment to collect herself before she got up and followed him onto the dance floor. The band was playing a song she thought she recognized -- or if she didn't know this particular song, she was pretty sure it was Count Basie.

The tempo was on the slow side, not quite bluesy, but good for lazy Lindy, which allowed her to take the time to luxuriate in Hunk's touch. Dancing with him now was at once exactly as it had always been, and completely new. Every touch was heat, electricity; every look spoke volumes of the same three words that had been echoing in her chest for a week and in her heart for so much longer.

And Hunk -- Hunk looked more happy, more content, than she'd ever seen him. Every time she made a move a little bit showy he gazed at her like she was the entire world before he led her back towards him, touching her with a surety and reverence that only made her love him even more.

Before too long it seemed like he couldn't bear to keep her in open position any more; he brought her into closed and held her there tighter than he needed to for dancing, but it was just right for what she was feeling, what he was obviously feeling too.

She rubbed his shoulder with his hand. "I love you."

A huge grin split his face. "I love you too."

"I love you so much." She tipped her forehead towards his shoulder for a moment, feeling suddenly vulnerable. "I can't believe how long this went on before now. I've been completely crazy about you for months."

"I've actually had a thing for you for a long time, too."

She pulled her head back enough to look up at him. "Really? How long?"

He smiled and ducked his face away, embarrassed, and turned her through a slightly more complicated promenade. "Pretty much ever since I met you."

Her heart thumped in her chest. "God, that long? It's been years. Why'd you never say anything?"

He shrugged. "I thought you were a lesbian."

"I -- what? No, I'm bi." She lost the beat for a moment, fell out of the step. Hunk stopped moving and tightened his arm around her back. "Though I do see why you would think that."

"String of girlfriends."

"Yeah."

"All of whom were either jealous of your dancer friends or _allergic to fun_ , I think you said?"

Pidge tipped her head back with an amused grin. "Oh yeah, Jane. That was a bad choice."

"Also Shay told me you weren't interested in dating guys."

"I never -- well, no, I did tell her that, didn't I." Hunk led her into the basic again, and her feet followed even though her mind was elsewhere. "I am interested in men too, just so you know."

"I gathered. So why'd you tell Shay you weren't?"

"I didn't say I wasn't interested in guys, I said I wasn't interested in _dating_ them, as a practical thing. Because patriarchy."

"Oh!" He nodded. "Yeah, that's a good reason."

"I thought so." He pushed her out and led through a couple of swing-outs, then a tight spin brought her back into closed position with her hair bouncing and a grin on her face. "I like you, though," she said. "I made that rule for myself when I was sixteen, and it didn't occur to me then that I'd fall in love with a friend."

He smiled at her like he'd never heard anything so wonderful. "And that's enough to stop you from continuing to stick it to the man?"

She rolled her eyes. "The heart wants what it wants. I could definitely do worse than you. We'll have to find other ways to stick it to the man together."

"Aww, you're sweet." He brushed a kiss to her temple.

They were so wrapped up in each other that the end of the song caught them by surprise, and he led her into a little dip; she giggled when she stood up. "God, nobody dips like you do."

"Oh please, that was nothing."

"Okay, then." She stuck out her chin at him. "Give me another dance and show me how it's really done."

He dropped his hand from her back. "The band's taking a break already? Seems kind of soon."

"Who knows with musicians. I guess they want to be fresh for the Jack and Jill final? But I'm pretty sure that Coran is DJing the break, just give him ... hang on." She let go of his hand and scurried through the thinning crowd to where Coran was setting up his computer. She whispered to him for a moment, at which he looked up at Hunk with an exaggerated wink before Pidge returned to the dance floor.

"Special request?"

"Yeah."

"Bet I know what it is."

"I bet you do. Make it good, I almost never get to follow this one."

"I know this song upside-down, Pidge; I'm going to be fantastic."

The music started with a shout of brass, and a holler of excitement from the other Milwaukee dancers, who all knew this was Pidge's song. Hunk hit the beat hard, pulling her through a series of energetic swing-outs and spins before pulling her tight into closed when the melody started.

 _"Bei mir bistu shein,"_ he murmured in her ear, "please let me explain ..."

She pressed her cheek against his. "Trying to win my heart with Yiddish?"

"Is it working?"

She giggled, and he kissed her temple before he pulled away and spun her around.

The dance was ecstatic. High energy, flying feet, and fabulous swivels from Pidge, who seemed to be following him more intuitively than ever. Maybe it was all the time they'd spent practicing over the past few months, or maybe it was their new emotional closeness, but he felt like she was an extension of himself. He couldn't take his eyes off her beautiful flashing blue dress and glowing curls, and knowing that _she was in love with him_ made his heart thunder every time she caught his eye and her smile grew.

He caught her in closed position when the tempo slowed way down, leaned back and pulled her up against his body. She responded instantly, draping herself over him exactly how he wanted, following his motions like she couldn't stop touching him. They moved like that until the accelerando picked up, and then she was flying through swing-outs and spins and stomps in perfect harmony with him.

It was almost the end of the song -- he'd promised her a great dip, and since the floor was not as full as it had been he actually had room for the one he had in mind. He'd done this with her a couple of times in the past, so he was pretty sure she'd be able to follow it. When the music got to the last chord with the shouting trumpets, he pulled her against his side, leaning her against him for just a moment before he popped her up, spun her around, and caught her in a dip that was so deep his knee was almost on the floor.

Her arms were tight around his neck and she was breathing hard as she grinned up at him, and he couldn't resist -- he leaned in the last couple of inches and kissed her firmly before he stood them both back on their feet.

She didn't let go of his shoulders, leaned close and whispered to him. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

He kept his arm tight around her back as his heart jumped into his throat. "What?"

"I want -- I want to _have_ you," she moaned softly, and her meaning was inescapable.

"You mean, like ..." -- he lowered his voice -- "in a naked way."

She nodded and licked her lips. "Hunk. I'm in love with you, and I've danced with you so much, I ... I know exactly what I want, and I want it immediately. I'm through with waiting."

And _god_ , did he want it too, and right away. But the logistics were a big problem. If they waited until the dance was over, that was three hours, longer if they went to the late night party too. But then where would they go? They were both staying with friends, they didn't have any privacy.

\-- but god _bless_ Lizzy, who was a fantastic host and had apparently foreseen this, and planted the seed in Hunk's head on Thursday afternoon when they arrived. As well as literally giving him the accoutrements: she'd put condoms in the bathroom for him.

He squeezed Pidge's hand, actually feeling certain of himself. "Okay. Let's go, let's take half an hour."

Pidge blinked at him, breathless. "Really?"

He grinned, filled with wild exhilaration, and led her off the dance floor, over to their bags. "Yeah. The place I'm staying is just a couple blocks away and nobody's there right now, let's just go and we can make it back for the Jack and Jill final."

Pidge tore her dancing shoes off and stuffed her feet into her sandals. "Ok, great, let's do it."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other music in this chapter:  
> [Duet by Count Basie](https://open.spotify.com/track/0WGYVxiIee4ZbJQD7pkLgv)
> 
> The chapter that immediately follows this one is rated M for overt sexual content and is posted as a separate work here:  
> [All Of Me](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10772445)
> 
> If you choose not to read that chapter you may continue to the next chapter of this work, "People Will Say We're In Love," without missing any plot.


	16. People Will Say We're In Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [People Will Say We're In Love by Ray Charles and Betty Carter (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGfzdXKg220)

_Don't sigh and gaze at me_  
_Your sighs are so like mine_  
_Your eyes mustn't glow like mine  
_ _People will say we're in love_

  

Allura was the first to spot them when they got back to the ballroom, but she stopped mid-wave with widening eyes, then pushed through the crowd to them. "Where have you been? The Jack and Jill final is about to start and you two up and disappeared for just long enough to have a quick shag."

Pidge looked up at Hunk with a little grimace; he was already bright red. "Told you."

Allura's mouth dropped open. "Oh my god, you honestly did? Just now?!"

Pidge knew she was blushing, and Hunk gripped her hand tightly. "Yeah."

"Oh my god!" Allura threw her arms around both of them. "You guys! I thought maybe I was just teasing but I'm so pleased, congratulations." She let go and pulled back, looking between them eagerly. "Please can I tell people?"

"People?" Hunk said, sounding uncertain.

"You know, our friends. Everybody who's been shipping you since Valentine's Day."

Hunk sighed. "I'd really prefer you didn't."

Pidge nodded. "I was hoping to keep this private for more than ten minutes."

Allura deflated. "Okay. Well, but if they guess, can I confirm it?"

"Why in the world would they guess?" Pidge asked.

Allura raised her eyebrows. "Did neither of you look in a mirror before you came back? You both have sex hair."

Pidge looked up at Hunk, who had turned to look at her. He had pulled his hair up again after they were done, but he'd struggled with the pins that Lance had done for him originally, and there were wispy strands falling around the sides of his face. He reached up and touched Pidge's hair, and it seemed like he was trying to smooth it back into place.

"Let me," Allura said, stepping around behind Pidge and then fussing in what seemed like a very precise way for a few moments. When she stepped back to her front again she seemed pleased. "Better. I mean you still look freshly fucked, but it could be passed off as a dance glow I guess. Probably only me and Amy will know that you destroyed your curls on the back there." She glanced up at Hunk, and narrowed her eyes at his hair. "Are those bobby pins?"

He sighed. "Yes."

"Come down here a mo." He put his hands on his knees and bent over, and she smoothed his flyaways back and re-secured them. "I didn't get a good look at you before, but you're presentable. Now come on, they're going to start the J and J any minute and we have to get seats."

Allura turned and took off, with Pidge and Hunk struggling a bit to keep up with her pace -- things had slowed down while they were off together, and coming back to the dance everything moved at a quicker tempo. But they managed to get the same spots on the floor as they had for the Strictly prelim the previous night, and they sat down right before the event got started.

It began with all of the pairs out on the floor at the same time, which really got the energy going and left Pidge absolutely aching to be up there with them. But Hunk was right beside her, with his arm almost-but-not-quite wrapped around her back; his touch grounded her, and she tried to enjoy that, the closeness of him. Staying beside him was a compelling alternative to dancing, it turned out, though she was glad she wouldn't often have to choose between those two things.

The competition was magical. Kit and Andy were both in top form, proving that they absolutely deserved their spots in the final. In the end neither of them took an award, though nobody could possibly argue that the winners hadn't earned it.

When the event ended, Pidge leapt to her feet, tugging on Hunk's hand insistently while he got up a little slower.

"Hang on, I'm coming," he laughed.

"I'm impatient," she whined.

"I know you are," he murmured, a suggestive edge to his voice, and he leaned in and kissed her in a way that made her knees weak, but was over much too soon. "Dancing now."

_More sex later_ was obviously implied, but they were moving to the music before she could think too much about it.

Hunk had clearly picked up a thing or two from the competition, moves that Pidge had never done with him but that were easy to follow nevertheless. It was exhilarating, after months of practicing with him, to have something between them that was new, and a bit awkward -- and then to have the payoff a minute later of getting it, of doing the move and being a little bit flashy. It was a delicious rush, made all the more delicious because her hands were in his, and when he pulled her into closed position again afterwards he was laughing and if she closed her eyes she could smell their time in bed together still lingering on him.

When the song ended he twisted her into a tiny dip, more of just leaning really, but it was soft and gentle and the way he smiled made her want to tell him she loved him and never stop.

Matt appeared then, snaking his arm around Pidge's shoulders as Hunk let her go. "Hey guys."

Pidge raised her eyebrows at him, trying to project a little bit of _excuse you._ "Hey Matt."

"I need my sister for a minute."

"Okay," Hunk said, and leaned down to kiss Pidge on the cheek quickly. "I'll be close."

She grinned at him. "I know how to find you, you're tall."

"Go dance with somebody," Matt said, and Hunk gave him a sloppy little salute before he set off to look for another partner.

Pidge let her gaze linger on Hunk's butt as he walked away, until Matt led her toward the edge of the floor, out of the way of the other dancers.  _Where were you?_ he signed, then switched to speaking. "I saw you kissing Hunk earlier -- which, congratulations, and also _finally_  -- but then you guys disappeared and I was worried you wouldn't get back in time for Kit and Andy."

"Oh, yeah." Was this oversharing? Maybe it was, but Matt was her brother, so good or bad he had it coming. "We had ... a special meeting of the government."

Matt's mouth dropped open, and he clapped both hands over it. "Like -- oh my god, like in a Jed and Abbey way?"

Her face was prickling with embarrassment, but she couldn't help feeling pleased with herself. "What other way is there?" she said, while she signed _yes._

"Oh my god, like, you guys have been Josh and Donna for so long, I was afraid you'd never get to the special meetings."

Pidge huffed a little laugh. "Next time Hunk tells me I talk about _The West Wing_ too much I'm going to make him talk to you for a while."

_Fuck off,_ Matt signed, grinning.

_I'm sleeping with Hunk tonight_ , Pidge signed, biting her lip, and it seemed like it took Matt a second to realize.

_Not at Andy's house?_

_No._ "Which means you can have my yoga mats."

Matt made a sad puppy face. "But who will wake me up in the morning?"

Pidge gave him what she hoped was a slightly evil grin. "Shiro." She finger-spelled it too, and to her delight, Matt went a little pink -- that crush of his was totally obvious, and Pidge was in a mood to encourage that sort of thing.

"That's enough sassy signing from you." Matt reached out and grabbed her hand. "Come on and dance with me."

 

 

Keith cut in after Matt had had his dance with Pidge, and although Keith didn't mention Pidge and Hunk's absence before the J and J final, he certainly acted like he was specifically not mentioning it. It would have been a relief, if his not-talking hadn't been so obvious, in that way that only Keith seemed to be able to do. He was almost insufferably self-satisfied, but it was a great dance like it always was. Pidge thanked him when they were done, and then made for where she and Hunk had dropped their things when they got back. She'd filled her water bottle before they left Lizzy's house, which was a good thing because what she really needed was a big drink of cold water.

Hunk appeared a minute later, finally escaping Allura, who had apparently been trying to talk to him after their dance. Pidge didn't know what Allura could be trying to talk _about_ , but she and Hunk seemed to always have this gossipy dynamic that Pidge didn't understand. Hunk was clearly more interested in being with Pidge right now, though.

Hunk pulled his phone out of his pocket as he sat down next to Pidge, and he grinned at it. "Oh, good."

"What?"

"Shay texted me back. I promised I'd tell her as soon as I got things sorted out with you and me."

Pidge leaned over and tried to look at the screen. "Did you tell her everything?"

"Not _everything_ everything. She can find out we slept together through the grapevine like everyone else."

"I might have to tell her," Pidge said. "She's my best friend. And, like ... she lives with me so I think it's like roommate code that I have to tell her if I might be having a sexy friend over, especially if it's you."

"You _think_ it's roommate code?"

"I mean, didn't you and Lance have to let each other know when you had a guest?"

"I guess so. But ... I don't know, I guess it's just been such a long time since he and Keith got together, I don't really remember how it was before. And I never had anyone stay over with me."

"Well, I'm going to tell Shay. She's always been supportive of me getting laid." She reached under the chair for her bag and got out her phone.

"Supportive how? Because, like, Lance says he's in favor of me hooking up with people but he never really wants to know when it's happening."

"Yeah, um." Pidge scratched the back of her neck awkwardly; it felt weird telling Hunk this, but she was in this deep so she sort of felt like the best way was to keep going. "No, when I would have girls stay over, Shay would always go _have good sex!_ in this obnoxiously perky voice while I was closing my door."

Hunk's eyes were wide. "Are you for real?"

Pidge shrugged, trying to be casual. "Yeah. I liked it, I thought it was funny."

"What about your guests?"

"Well, I'd say it's about twenty percent of why it didn't work out with me and Jane."

Hunk tried to suppress a laugh, and it came out through his nose instead. Pidge leaned into his side with a grin, and then looked at her phone; when she unlocked it there were already texts from Shay waiting for her.

_Pidge oh my god Hunk just texted me_  
_He said you told him you love him and then he kissed you_  
_Does this mean you and him are officially together now??? He's not answering me  
_ _Are you kissing him right now is that why you're not answering either_

Pidge smiled at the phone, and held it so Hunk could see over her shoulder. _My phone was in my bag and he was dancing with Allura just now_ , she replied. _Also yes we are together now. Very together._ She hesitated, but decided to go for it. _There will be sleepovers_

She hit send. The message immediately showed read, and Shay's reply bubble popped up. Pidge could feel Hunk holding his breath beside her.

_Omg congratulations!!!!! I'm so happy for you guys this is the best ever_

_Better than your sister's wedding?_

_Of course better than that and don't change the subject. Please tell me he's good in bed?_

"Oh, no," Hunk groaned, wrapping his arm around Pidge's back and leaning his face into her shoulder.

She giggled, and tried to ignore that her face was heating up. _He's good in bed. You missed out._

_Lol I figured. But in all seriousness I'm so so so pleased for you Pidgey, Hunk is the best boyfriend in the world and you deserve him more than anyone._

_Stop ur making me blush_

_I bet he thinks it's cute_

_Stoppppppp_

_Ok ok :) stop texting me and go dance with him, you can tell me all about this on Monday when we get home._

_Sounds good. Now you go meet a cute Mormon boy from the groom's side okay_

_Lol I'll try. Love you_

_Love you too, see you soon_

Hunk snuggled into Pidge just a bit as she turned her phone off. "Are you done texting my ex?"

She laughed. "She's not your ex, she's my roommate."

"She can be two things."

Pidge twisted into him and kissed the side of his face. "I'll pay attention to you now."

"Hm. Good." He picked his head up and caught her lips with his; it was a heavy kiss, drawn-out, the kind that was deep and significant and left her feeling like he was baring his soul to her. She never wanted it to stop.

 

 

The vibe of the dance changed after the Strictly final, Matt thought. Maybe it's just because it was getting a little late, but the music felt slower, sexier; the dancers looked closer to one another and less inhibited, like everyone had slipped into a parallel world where the fact that you had never met someone before meant nothing at all.

Maybe he felt like this because his sister and her shiny fresh boyfriend had been absolutely inseparable ever since the first break -- which was completely understandable, considering what had finally, _finally_ happened between them. He did occasionally spot one of them dancing with a different friend, and he took Pidge for that one spin, but except for those short periods they were never not touching each other. A lot of the touching was kissing.

As the evening started feeling late and he was getting about enough of his sister making out with Hunk, Matt found himself watching Shiro instead; he seemed to be spending a lot of time with Allura. Matt wasn't sure what their relationship was, exactly. They clearly weren't actually a couple, but there seemed to be a lot of unspoken _something_ between them -- plain old attraction, probably. Shiro was blindingly hot as always, and the more Matt watched him dance with Allura the more he was intrigued by her as well, by the way she moved, the way she flipped her hair when one of the twists came loose from her updo. When Shiro took it and tucked it behind her shoulder, the look they shared was ... the sort of thing that Matt felt like he shouldn't be seeing. And then they turned, and Allura made eye contact with him and -- she _smirked._ And it took Matt's breath away.

Which was a big surprise, because she was very much a girl, and he'd never looked at a girl like that before. Like he wanted her to do that again.

Of course he would be straight for Allura, of all people.

He was still staring, and Allura murmured something to Shiro, who turned and looked at him and Matt suddenly felt like he needed to hide somewhere very dark and quiet because he got the distinct feeling that something was about to happen and he wasn't quite prepared for the paradigm shift that was looming on the horizon.

 

 

"Don't look now," Hunk murmured in Pidge's ear as he pulled her into closed position, "but I think your brother might be about to score."

"Matt? Really? Shiro finally noticed him mooning?"

"Not just Shiro." He took her weight for blues, and turned them around so she could rubberneck over his shoulder. "Allura's definitely getting flirty."

"Holy shit."

"I thought Matt was gay?"

"So did I. So did _he,_ but I think now that we might all be wrong."

Hunk glanced over at the trio -- definitely getting cozy. "It looks like Allura's signing to him."

"Oh man, I hadn't even considered that. Her day job is as an interpreter, isn't it."

"Yeah, I think so."

Pidge tried to read what they were saying, but there were too many people in the way, and by the looks of it they were signing fast. She never really got to see Matt signing fluently like that, and she was struck by how relaxed he looked, how comfortable.

Matt laughed then -- Pidge could actually hear him over the band. And he was bright red but he looked very pleased, and she couldn't see Allura's face but Shiro was laughing too.

"I think we might not be the only ones hooking up tonight," Pidge said.

"Good thing you're getting out of their way?"

She giggled. "Yeah, right? I'm totally getting the dirt from Matt on Monday in the car. He owes me, I told him that I slept with you without him hardly having to ask."

"Ugh, Pidge," Hunk groaned, but he couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice. "Does this mean _everybody_ knows now?"

"I dunno, who's everybody? Did you tell Lance?"

"I mean ... yes."

"For real?"

"When I danced with him after the J-n-J He saw my bow tie was different and put it together pretty quick. I couldn't _not_ confirm it, he's like my brother."

"And if he knows, Keith knows. He was definitely acting like he knew something before. And I'm positive that Allura told Amy about my hair, since they took so long doing it." She let out a tight giggle. "So, yeah, everybody. But I told Matt using _West Wing_ references so I don't think anybody overheard?"

"Nerds," Hunk teased.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"I would never." He tightened his arm around her back and nuzzled the top of her head. "Were you planning to go to late night after this?"

"I dunno, I'll see how I feel. I've had a lot of day, I might crash. And I want to have some energy left for tomorrow."

"You got plans?"

"I mean, just the dance in the evening. I don't think I'll be awake in time to catch an elective before noon, and none of the workshops caught my attention this time around. What about you?"

Hunk shrugged. "No plans. I'll do whatever you want to do."

"Aww." She tipped her head back to look at him, and he leaned in with a smile and kissed her. "Will you take me for coffee in the morning?"

"I'd love to. I know a good place."

"Sweet. Oh, and I should tell you now: my mom would kill me if I didn't meet Keith's friend before I spent the night at her house."

"You've met her, I'm sure, but I'll introduce you again in a bit."

"Sounds good."

"Changing the subject completely," he said. "But still on the topic of ... of sleeping with you." He shook his head. "That was awkward. Anyway. I want to live with you. In Evanston, when we're at Northwestern."

Her face lit up. "That's a fantastic idea. I was thinking I didn't want to live alone, but I didn't know anyone except you."

"I've been looking at apartments already," he admitted. "We'll have to figure out our budget but I think we've got some choices, and we'll have more now if we decide we can make do with a one-bedroom."

An enormous smile split her face, and she laughed. "Yeah, that is an option now."

"I know it's kind of soon to decide to move in together," he said. "We've only been together for a couple of hours."

Pidge shook her head. "We've been together for months. This is a great idea, I'd love to have a place with you. And tonight we'll make sure that we can share a bed without wanting to kill each other."

Hunk picked up their joined hands and gathered them to his chest. "I should tell you I'm a cuddler."

Her eyes sparkled, and she tightened her fingers in his. "We may have to negotiate that. I tend to overheat."

"I'm willing to make it work."

She looked for a second like she was trying not to cry, and he held her a little tighter. "Me too."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommended viewing: [2016 Chase Festival Pro-Am Jack and Jill final](https://youtu.be/xdk-fnQsRKM)


	17. Cheek To Cheek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Cheek To Cheek by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong](https://open.spotify.com/track/1gcuhZPKmTYvn5VT5EZLR6)

_July_

 

"Wow, this place is really nice," Lance said as he and Keith stepped into Pidge and Hunk's living room, a bright top-floor duplex in a hundred-year-old house in a quiet Evanston neighborhood that wasn't too far from the university.

"You don't have to sound surprised," Pidge teased, shutting the door behind them, and Lance stuck out his tongue at her.

Keith seemed oblivious to their friendly ribbing. "The others here already?"

"Yeah, Allura and Shiro and Coran are in the kitchen with Hunk. Head on back, you can't miss it."

"What about Matt?" Lance obviously knew the ulterior motive for this visit already, and Pidge hoped he'd been able to keep it secret from Keith and the others. Plus, Matt's thing with Shiro and Allura had become common knowledge almost as quickly as Hunk and Pidge's hookup had, though the trio had been a surprise to everyone.

"He'll be here soon, don't worry. He got a late start but he texted me five minutes ago saying he just transferred onto the Purple Line."

"Sounds good." He looked towards the back of the house, at Keith's retreating back. "So how do you like living with my roommate?"

"He's my roommate now, suckah! I bet you miss his cooking."

"Enough to drive an hour and a half down here, yeah."

"He's got big plans for tonight. His first time making something big and involved in this kitchen. We only just finished unpacking."

"What's he making?"

"Well, I talked him down from Thanksgiving in July. But he's working on a meatloaf now, and there's going to be roasted potatoes, and he's doing some sort of needlessly involved salad."

"Sounds like my buddy Hunk, cooking things in the oven when it's ninety degrees out. At least you've got air conditioning."

"Yeah, that's definitely a plus, though it's just a couple of window units so our power bill is going to be massive."

"Probably worth it. Means it's not too hot for sex, right?"

"Oh my god, Lance!" She gave him a gentle shove, and he grinned.

"Tell me true, though -- is he good in bed? He seems like he'd be amazing."

"What makes you think I'd tell you _anything_ about our sex life?"

"Wow, that good?"

She blushed. "Yeah."

"I'm really happy for both of you guys." He held out his arms for a hug, and Pidge gave in. "Thank you for everything you've done for him. I've never seen him as happy as he's been since you started spending all this time with him."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. I hope he tells you every day how much he loves you."

"He does."

"If you hurt him you'll live to regret it."

"I know, Keith already threatened me with knives."

Lance chuckled and squeezed her before he let go. "I have to say though, I'm surprised Hunk is only doing three dishes for tonight. When he pulls out all the stops he usually does at least five."

"Oh, he tried, believe me. And there is dessert, but he won't tell me what it is. He kept shooing me out of the kitchen yesterday afternoon."

 

 

Matt finally arrived despite shenanigans involving the Chicago Transit Authority, only an hour later than planned. Hunk got everything in the oven with timers set, and then he made sure everyone had drinks and herded them out to the front of the house where it was a good ten degrees cooler.

Hunk was the last one to come out to the living room with his glass of wine, and Pidge gave him the spot she'd saved for him on the couch next to Matt, then perched on the arm next to him and psyched herself up for a mini speech. "We're really glad you could all make it down."

There were murmurs of agreement, and Hunk took her hand, looking up at her with a gentle smile.

She squeezed his fingers and took a deep breath. "So ... this isn't only a housewarming party."

Matt and Lance shared a knowing glance, and Hunk wrapped his arm around Pidge's hips as she took another breath to steady the excited pounding of her heart.

"What is it?" Keith demanded, more forcefully than was probably appropriate, but not out of character, and Hunk grinned at him.

"It's an engagement party," he said, barely containing his joy. "We're getting married next summer."

Allura jumped to her feet, only barely not spilling her wine, and all but threw herself at Pidge and Hunk in delight. The rest of their friends were right behind, crowding around to hug and congratulate them. Even Matt and Lance were getting emotional, and they'd known for a week since they had agreed to be best men.

"Okay, I _gotta_ know," Lance said when the clamor died down. "Did you give her a ring?"

Hunk shook his head. "No, it's not in our budget. And it was a really spur-of-the-moment proposal, I didn't plan anything."

"I didn't really want a ring anyway," Pidge added. "Just a wedding ring, but that comes later."

"Maybe you want to reconsider," Matt said meaningfully, and everyone turned to him. He sat forward on the couch to grab his bag, and pulled out a small jeweler's box, which he handed to Hunk. "Grandma gave me this at Passover, with the instructions to give it to you when the time was right. So that'll be now."

Pidge could barely breathe as Hunk popped the box open -- it was Grandma's engagement ring. She hadn't seen it since Grandpa died five years ago, but it was unmistakable, with its three small emeralds and two tiny diamonds set in yellow gold.

"Oh my god," Hunk gasped.

"Holy shit," Lance breathed. "Is that a family heirloom?"

"It looks vintage," Allura said. "Forties?"

"Yeah," Matt said, watching as Hunk carefully lifted it out of the box -- it looked absolutely tiny in his hand. "Grandpa bought it in 1949, proposed in 1950, and they got married in 1951. Grandma stopped wearing the ring after he died in 2012. She told me she wants Pidge to have it, since she's the only granddaughter. She also said it's good luck because she and Grandpa were married for sixty-one years even though haters told them a mixed marriage wouldn't last."

"Mixed?" Shiro asked.

"Grandpa wasn't Jewish," Matt explained. "He converted after they married. I guess that was uncommon at the time."

Hunk turned to Pidge, who was trying very hard not to burst into tears. She let him take her left hand, and he slid the ring onto her finger up to the knuckle, where it stuck a little. He looked up at her with something like fear in his eyes, and that was what broke Pidge. She started laughing, and the tears fell; she pushed the ring over her knuckle and slid off the arm of the couch onto Hunk's lap. He caught her, his strong arms around her waist, and she buried her face in the side of his neck as she clung to him and let herself cry.

"Are you okay?" he murmured.

"It's perfect," she gasped. "I never would have guessed, but ... it's perfect."

He held her tighter and pressed his face into her shoulder. "I love you so much."

"God, I love you too."

He held her while she cried for another couple of minutes, and they both started at the sound of a camera shutter. Pidge looked up to see Matt grinning at them and holding up his phone.

"I had to take a pic for Mom and Dad," he said. "And Grandma, obviously. Though she never checks her Facebook."

Pidge pushed her glasses aside to wipe the tears out of her eyes. "Mom will make sure she sees it."

"Put your hand on his shoulder again, that was a great picture. Then both turn towards me."

Pidge put her hand where he asked and they both turned, and Matt snapped another photo. "That was super cute. I'll text it to you if you want to post it on Facebook or something."

"Yeah, that's great. Now that we've told you guys we can tell everybody."

Matt tapped at his phone, and a moment later Pidge's phone whistled in her pocket. She pulled it out, and got to work posting it online.

"Are we Facebook-official?" Hunk said, leaning over her a bit.

"We can be if you want to be."

"Absolutely."

She glanced at him with a grin before she went back to her device.

"So who proposed?" Shiro asked. "Because I'm prepared to believe it from either of you."

"It was me," Hunk said. "And it was totally spontaneous too, I hadn't planned anything."

Shiro raised his eyebrows, and everyone scooted a little closer. "That's _definitely_ a story."

Pidge laughed and felt her face getting hot as she finished with her phone. "He got down on one knee in Trader Joe's."

Lance's eyes practically bugged out like a cartoon. "No freakin' way!"

"It's true," Hunk said. "It was our first whole day here, and we went to get convenience food for until we unpacked all the kitchen stuff. So there Pidge is, inspecting the frozen burritos, and that Sara Bareilles song came on and suddenly I knew exactly what I wanted, so I grabbed a carton of candies and asked her to marry me."

"They were those dark chocolate peanut butter cups," Pidge added. "I couldn't say no to that."

Allura was beaming. "I bet the Trader Joe's people loved that."

Hunk laughed. "They sure did. The manager gave us a bottle of Chuck to celebrate."

"Which Sara Bareilles song was it?" Coran asked, and he already had his phone out.

" _I Choose You._ "

"Ah yes, _The Blessed Unrest,_ 2013." He tapped at his phone, clearly adding it to a playlist.

Keith peered over his shoulder. "How do you know so much about music?"

"It's my job, isn't it?"

"You're the graveyard DJ at WMSE and they don't pay you."

Coran shrugged. "That's a technicality."

"You should DJ their wedding," Allura said, and everyone turned to look at Hunk and Pidge.

"Oh," Pidge said. "Uh."

"I mean," Hunk added, "if you wanted to. We'd love to have you do it, you're great. And there's obviously going to be dancing."

Coran's face lit up. "You wouldn't even have to pay me, it would be my gift to you. Save on the budget a little. And look at that, I've already started a playlist for it."

Hunk tightened his arm around Pidge's waist. "Well, there we go, the first concrete plan."

"This means it's really happening." She swallowed, trying not to feel nervous. "I guess I'll let Mom know she doesn't have to worry about music."

Matt elbowed Hunk in the flank playfully. "You're having Mom plan the whole thing?"

Pidge kicked him. "Yeah. We're going to be busy as fuck with grad school, and she wanted to do it, so ... yeah."

"So it'll be up in Milwaukee."

"Yeah, that's where everybody is."

Allura leaned on the coffee table and propped her chin on her hands. "Do you know where it's going to be? The venue?"

"I've thought about the art museum," Hunk said, and Pidge turned to him in surprise.

"Wait, really? You've never said so."

He shrugged. "It's just a thought. But it's one I've had ever since I first saw it years ago, that it would be awesome to get married there."

"The Calatrava wings would be a hell of a chuppah," Matt said, and Allura gasped.

"Oh my god, that would be gorgeous, getting married under that."

"We should have an actual chuppah," Pidge said, looking at Matt. "I want to use Mom's, I know she still has it. Plus, Grandma knitted it for her."

"Hold on," Hunk said, "what's a -- a hoopa?"

Matt explained, briefly, and when he was done Hunk looked back at Pidge. "So we're having a Jewish wedding?"

 _Oh shit,_ they really ought to have discussed that, like, even once. "I mean, I -- I just assumed. We don't have to, it's not like I'm religious, I just ... it's just what I pictured. We can do Samoan things too, you'll just have to tell me what you want."

He took her hand and smiled gently. "It's fine, it really is, relax. I'm all for having a Jewish wedding, I'm just getting the feeling that I'm going to have to have _everything_ explained to me."

She let her head bend towards him as she grinned. "You can wear a kippah for the ceremony, if you want. You already know what that's about."

"I'll wear anything you want me to."

Matt nudged Pidge's foot. "Are you going to wear a veil?"

She leaned her forehead against Hunk's cheek. "Yeah, I think so. It's part of the whole look. And, I mean, Mom named me Rebecca, so."

"Wait, _what?_ " Shiro said. "Your name is Rebecca? How did you get Pidge out of that?"

Pidge grinned and shook her head, smushing her hair even more against Hunk's face. "My given name is Katherine Rebecca, and I'm sure that's what'll be on the wedding invitations. Matt's the reason I'm called Pidge."

Matt folded his arms and looked very pleased with himself. "I was really into Pokemon when we were little, and it stuck."

"You're _still_ really into Pokemon."

"And Pidgey is and will always be my favorite."

Hunk perked up, lifting his head away from hers. "Can I use my full name on the invites too? It'll be great, nobody will know who we are when we send them out."

Pidge laughed and pressed her nose into his face. "Sure thing, Akeakamai Moamoana."

 

 

Pidge could barely take her eyes off the ring for the rest of the afternoon, and Hunk was obviously enthralled with it as well. After dinner was eaten and the cleanup was finished he cuddled her on the couch while Keith was in charge of a YouTube party. Hunk held Pidge's hand, turning the ring this way and that, watching the light play off the metal and stones, smiling when he caught the fire in the diamonds.

"I can't believe Grandma gave us this," Pidge breathed.

"To be perfectly honest," Hunk said, "I actually can. At Passover she sort of cornered me in the hall outside the bathroom and went _when are you going to marry that girl?_ "

Pidge laughed. "She's very forthright."

"No kidding. When I told her we weren't together she shrugged and went _I know_ and then I escaped because I have a personal rule about not arguing with grandmas."

"That's wise."

"I think so. And this is some good evidence, I'd have hated to make her think poorly of me."

"Hmm." Pidge snuggled into him a little harder. "She absolutely wouldn't have given you this if she didn't like you."

He twisted the ring again. "I can't believe how beautiful it is. You said it was her engagement ring?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. That's ... wow."

"Yeah, I know."

"I'm surprised it wasn't the wedding ring, wasn't it more common at the time to just have one?"

"Maybe, I dunno. But I know Grandpa had a great job so he made a lot of money, and Jewish wedding rings are always just plain bands, so she has a separate wedding ring that she still wears. She used to wear this one on her right hand, actually."

"What are you going to do?"

"Give me a minute, I've only had it for a couple hours." She giggled and tipped her head into his soft embrace. "I can probably get a wedding ring made that would have an indentation to fit alongside it."

"That's what I was thinking."

She looked up at him. "Are you going to wear one?"

"A wedding ring? Of course I am."

"Okay, good. Because my mom would have a fit if we weren't egalitarian."

"Dude, mine too. And besides, I'd never _dream_ of suggesting that you were, like, my property."

She giggled. "Good. That would have been a deal-breaker."

 

 

Pidge changed her clothes before they left for the dance, into the same dress she'd worn at Lindyfest; Hunk hadn't seen it on her since then. It seemed to fit a little bit differently now; she had complained to him recently that being on birth control had made her gain a few pounds, and she'd had to buy new bras, so maybe it was the extra bit of weight in her breasts and hips that made the dress look ... however it was that it looked now. He hadn't noticed a difference with her other clothes, so whatever it was, it was subtle.

It had been far too long since they'd been dancing -- they were both used to going weekly, but since their move they hadn't gone at all, and they'd been in Illinois a good month and a half. They and their friends piled into their assorted cars and drove down across the city limits into Chicago proper, and after a bit of consternation over parking, they got to the dance.

The venue was crowded and felt absolutely perfect, and Hunk danced with Pidge through two songs before they split up to dance with their friends, and then with the other people who they were determined to get to know -- their _new_ dance friends, a few of whom looked passingly familiar from Lindyfest, or possibly other events over the past few years.

Hunk found Pidge again after an hour, just in time for a slightly slower song, which he then danced at half tempo, pulling her effortlessly into a blues. He was hot and his shirt was damp with sweat, and her hair was sticking to her forehead, and this was everything she wanted.

At the end of the song he dipped her, not too flashy, but quiet and intimate among the noise of the rest of the dancers, and she kissed him before he picked her back up. That made him blush, and she led him to their spot in the corner to sit down and rest for a few minutes, since they'd been dancing nonstop since they arrived.

"I like it here," he said, pulling at the collar of his shirt to get some air moving.

"I do too." She took a deep swig of her water, and looked back out at the crowd -- she could see Allura and Lance dancing together, looking like they were having a blast. "I'm so glad I get to do this with you."

He glanced at her sideways. "You mean coming down to this dance?"

"I mean everything." She leaned her shoulder into his side. "The dance here, and Chicago in general; grad school, everything. My whole life." She set her hand on her knee so she could look at the ring, and Hunk reached over and brushed her fingertips with his.

"The rest of our lives," Hunk whispered, barely audible above the music and the crowd. He touched her finger where the ring sat, glowing warmly in the dim light, unmoved since he put it there.

"Do you ever wonder if we're doing this kind of fast?" she murmured.

He looked at her, surprise on his features, but it relaxed right away into a gentle smile. "No, do you?"

"No, I just ... it occurs to me that some people might think we're rushing. We've only been a couple for, what, two months? Two and a half? And we've moved in together and started planning a wedding."

"It's not like we don't know each other really well, though."

"Yeah, true. You've been my best friend for like two years at least."

"Exactly."

"Well, my best friend besides Shay."

"Hah, right." He took her hand, and his big palm was warm and slightly sweaty. "I choose you," he said softly. "I won't be so arrogant to say that I know how this is going to work out, but I know that I want this, and I want to take the chance with you. I want to be yours, come what may."

She turned towards him, and he let her draw him into a kiss. It went on longer than was probably appropriate for a public place, but she didn't care, they were in a corner and this was her future husband and she was going to kiss him absolutely as much as she pleased.

When their lips parted, he stayed where he was and leaned his forehead against hers, pressing gently and with one hand resting on the back of her neck, breathing deeply. She felt like he was trying to breathe her in, to absorb her so they'd never be apart.

After a minute the song ended, and she squeezed his hand. "Dance with me?"

He smiled, then leaned in and gave her one more quick kiss. "Always."

 

 _Heaven, I'm in heaven_  
_And the cares that hung around me through the week_  
_Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak  
_ _When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek_

 _Dance with me_  
_I want my arms about you_  
_That those charms about you  
_ _Will carry me through_

 _To heaven, I'm in heaven_  
_And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak_  
_And I seem to find the happiness I seek  
_ _When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I Choose You by Sara Bareilles](https://open.spotify.com/track/7jJH8F3PHlNvxfqEAAfFDl)
> 
>  
> 
> [Pidge's ring](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/30/cf/cd/30cfcd967ec144285f20edfde07361bf.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> [The Quadracci Pavillion at the Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/79/70/1d/79701d1a6e9d1637406f3576eafa4b0c.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> [The "wings" of the same building, which open and close](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/d2/4d/e5/d24de52b26f82fe6aceb40a8a05b1f04.jpg)

**Author's Note:**

> [Spotify playlist for this story](https://play.spotify.com/user/129963216/playlist/7tEUTSFj65NHjZnmiOwEav) (note that this is subject to slight changes until the story is finished)
> 
>  
> 
> [Spotify playlist of supplemental music, updated as chapters get finished](https://play.spotify.com/user/129963216/playlist/1uai0KyOfPJK9qGSJDtZlv)
> 
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> 
> [Spotify playlist of the author's favorite dance music, updated frequently](https://play.spotify.com/user/129963216/playlist/3Dyf8UNjsIEMMqDoCkNIdH)


End file.
